Too Much Like James Potter
by We're All M-M-Mad Here
Summary: Briar Rose Potter's journey through Hogwarts, pranks, detention and Snivillus. Being the twin of Harry Potter isn't easy, but she wouldn't change it for the world. "In that moment, as Fred's hand paused on opening his door, he realised that Lupin was right: she was always so much like James Potter. Too much."
1. That Fateful Halloween

Prologue

_That fateful Halloween_

Lily Potter came from the kitchen carrying a tray of cookies she had just baked. Her fiery red hair was tied in a messy bun slightly white with a bit of flour, which was also on the pink flowery apron that was tied around her waist. Her brilliant green eyes sparkled with happiness as she looked lovingly at her husband, James, playing with their two year old twins, Harry James and Briar Rose. Much to Lily's annoyance they had both inherited James' unruly Black hair that would never lie flat, but in her eyes they were still the most beautiful children in the world. They were both identical to each other, both looking an awful lot like James, the only differences were of course their gender, but also the fact that Harry had inherited her emerald eyes rather than James' hazel.

Lily set the cookies on the table before scooping up Harry, who was clad only in a nappy, as dramatically as she could, causing him to laugh. She took him into the kitchen where she put on a pair of jeans and a blue top her best friend Marlene McKinnon, who was Harry's godmother, had gotten for him last year.

She smiled sadly as she picked him up again and returned to the living room. She missed Marlene dearly. She didn't know how Sirius could possibly be coping as they were just as close, probably closer. She looked to the picture on their mantel. James' glasses were hanging of his face slightly as she had accidently knocked them as she jumped up onto his back, next to them Sirius, grinning haughtily at the camera not a strand of his silky black hair out of place, as he had his arm wrapped around Marlene, who was smiling happily, her blue eyes twinkling as Sirius moved a strand of brown hair from her freckled face and kissing her softly.

This war was awful. People were dying left and right. James' family were gone, some at the hands of Bellatrix, others Voldemort himself, Lily's family, bar Petunia who wanted nothing to do with her, were gone too. She, James and the twins were in hiding just like the Longbottoms because of the prophecy. The Prewett twins had died not long ago along with Briar's godmother, Dorcas Meadows, the entire McKinnon family not soon after at the hands Karkaroff and what happened to Benjy Fenwick was just awful, he was blown to bits.

She shook her head, she should not dwell on such thoughts, she needs to stay strong, there's always hope. The order was working tirelessly against Voldemort that had to mean something.

She smiled as Harry and Briar giggled and clapped as James made different coloured sparks come from his wand.

It was then that she noticed that the plate of cookies she had brought in a few minutes ago was now bare save for a few crumbs.

"Who ate all the cookies? I only finished baking them two minutes ago" Lily demanded.

James stopped making sparks come from his wand and shared a glance with Briar.

"He did it!" Briar shouted at the same time James shouted "She did it!" both pointing at each other.

"I swear, she gets more like you every day" Lily chuckled, shaking her head affectionately, moving to tickle Harry, who giggled madly, squirming to get away.

Suddenly there was movement just outside the door and she shared a panicked look with James. They knew that Sirius would have told them before he came over, Remus was on a mission with the werewolves for the order and Peter was in hiding since he became secret keeper.

James dropped his wand on the settee and quickly ran to the door, looking through the peep hole.

"Lily it's him! Take the kids upstairs, I'll hold him off, go!" James shouted, panic stricken.

Lily scooped the twins up into her arms and quickly ran up the stairs to the nursery; stumbling slightly in her haste and hearing the front door get blown in behind her. She shut the nursery door as quietly as she could behind her. She first put Briar in her crib, as it was the furthest from the door.

"It's going to be okay Briar Rose, mummy and daddy love you" Lily whispered, kissing the top of her head, before moving to put harry into his crib and whispering the same thing to him.

"Avada Kadavra!" Lily heard get bellowed downstairs, and then there was silence, that silence was worse than anything Lily had ever heard.

"James" Lily uttered, choking on a sob.

She felt like her heart had been ripped out and torn to pieces in front of her very eyes. She couldn't believe it; she didn't want to believe it. The love of her life was dead. Peter you bastard.

Lily heard door after door get blown open, her breathing was fast and heavy with her fear. However she was more scared for Harry and Briar than for herself. Finally the nursery door swung open, revealing a man with terrifyingly pale skin, a snake like face, red eyes and was wearing a long billowing black cloak.

"No! No not Harry! Please not Briar! Have Mercy!" Lily cried, blocking Voldemort's view of the twins by standing in front of Harry's crib, which was in front of Briars.

"Move aside you stupid girl, you don't have to die" Voldemort snarled, in a menacing voice.

"Kill me instead; take me, just not my children!" She pleaded.

"Your bravery is admirable, you would have made a brilliant death eater, to bad you're a Mudblood" Voldemort told her.

Voldemort's upper lip pulled back in a snarl.

"Avada Kadavra!" He bellowed.

A flash of green light flew out of his wand hitting Lily in the chest. She fell backwards, dead. Her red hair spread out around her head on the wooden floor, her eyes closed, her dark lashes creating shadows on her cheeks. She could have almost been sleeping, if her chest wasn't still, and trails of dried tears weren't staining her pale face.

Voldemort turned his attention to the little boy, Harry. Harry gazed up at him fearfully, pushing himself as far back in the crib as he could go and he glanced at his twin sister, who was reaching through the bars of her crib trying to reach her brother. He wasn't sure which one of them the prophecy was about, it was either them or Longbottom, but he had sent Bella to deal with them.

Voldemort tried to use the same curse he had used on James and Lily; green light erupting from his wand. However, instead of killing Harry, it rebounded back, hitting him instead. Voldemort screamed in fury before disappearing, no evidence that he had even attempted to kill Harry except from a small scar now visible on his forehead, in the shape of a lightning bolt.


	2. Potters United

Chapter one

_Potters united_

**Remus laughed as James attempted to get Harry to walk to him, but he seemed more content to just stare up at his father with wide green eyes. **

**He, Peter and Sirius were all gathered in the Potter's living room, having just come back from an Order meeting, luckily there wasn't anything too bad for Dumbledore to announce, only that it seemed Voldemort was keen to gain even more inferi. **

**Lily seemed to be having the same amount of luck as James in getting Briar to walk, every time Lily attempted it, Briar would just laugh, before crawling up to Peter and pouting until he gave her chocolate. **

"**Come on, Harry, come to Daddy" James said, but the boy just stared up at him, not moving, making Remus laugh along with Sirius and Peter "Come to daddy and I will by you that toy broomstick mummy said you couldn't have"**

"**Prongs, he's not even one yet, he doesn't understand bribery" Remus laughed, cutting across Lily's disapproving glare. **

"**Never mind whether he understands it or not, I do not want you using bribery to get our children to do something" Lily scolded.**

"**Fine, show me how you'd do it" James said to Lily, crossing his arms stubbornly and pouting.**

"**Fine" Lily said, moving towards Briar. **

**She held Briar's hands and helped her to stand shakily before taking a few step back and crouching. **

"**Come on my Briar Rose, come to mummy" Lily cooed, beckoning to Briar.**

**Briar looked at her for a few seconds before taking a few shaky steps forward. Remus shared an amused glance with Peter and Sirius when they distinctly heard James mutter something about Lily being a 'stupid show off'. **

**Suddenly Briar stumbled forward slightly and just as Lily reached forward to stop her from falling something completely unexpected happened. Briar suddenly morphed into a fawn, similar to that of James' animagus, with the same caramel coloured hair, big hazel eyes and brown speckles across her back, but her chest was white.**

**Remus looked at the small fawn with wide eyes, and he was pretty sure the others were doing the same. **

**Briar tried to take a step forward with her thin legs, but stumbled again and fell in a tangle of legs and hooves.**

**Remus couldn't help but laugh along as Sirius let out a bark like laugh.**

"**She's like Bambi" Remus laughed.**

"**The newest marauder, Bambi" Sirius agreed with a laugh, and James smiled as Harry began to giggle madly at his sister. **

On the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole, there was a small house. It wasn't much to look at, not that it was ugly per say, it was just rather run down, with the grass and flowers in the garden over grown, almost hiding the path that led to the road and ivy covering one side of the house, not to mention the hole clearly visible in one corner of the roof, it definitely could be better. However it gave of a warm and welcoming atmosphere, so you could instantly tell that the occupants of the house were happy.

The inside of the house was fairly small, with one large room downstairs that made up the kitchen, dining room and living room, and only two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

As soon as you set foot in the house you could tell it wasn't normal. The pictures on the walls and mantel were moving. One showed a girl who looked to be about seven, with long unruly black hair, bright hazel eyes and was smirking at the camera, before she winked and suddenly she wasn't there at all, rather a small deer in her place.

The mirror that hung on the wall in the hall way shouted things like 'comb your hair!' or 'tuck your shirt in, scruffy!' there was also the fact that there was no TV in the living room, instead a bookshelf and a chess set, plus the small table, on which a deck of strange looking cards was sitting, was scorched.

Not to mention that currently the dishes were washing themselves as a tired but happy looking man with scars on his face sat at the table, reading a newspaper entitled 'the daily prophet'.

The first bedroom upstairs was painted a pale blue. The furniture all appeared to be well used: a desk that had scorched marks and was partially burned and the chair that was in front of it was bright blue and began to flash different colours, an experiment that went wrong. Zonkos products and clothes littered the carpeted floor and the wardrobe doors were open, a few clothe items spilling out.

The bed was in the centre of the room and under a bright green Holy Heard Harpies' duvet, just visible was the head of a sleeping girl, her unruly jet black hair tumbling across her golden pillow.

Suddenly a figurine of a banshee on the girl's bedside table let out a shriek and continued to wale until the girl's hazel eyes blinked open tiredly. She glanced at the clock on her wall, seeing that it was seven o'clock, she groaned and snuggled back into her duvet, intent on going back to sleep.

The girl's eyes suddenly snapped open and she jerked upright, her messy black hair tumbling down her shoulders to stop at her waist. She looked towards the Holy Head Harpies calendar on her wall, ignoring the picture of the seeker, clad in green robes, winking and tossing her hair as she waved the snitch triumphantly and looked straight to the date.

It was 1st August, the day after her eleventh birthday, and on the calendar in bright red letters were the words: 'DIAGON ALLEY'.

The girl hopped out of bed, suddenly wide awake, and easily manoeuvring between the objects that littered the floor, she rushed to her wardrobe, intent on getting ready as quickly as possible.

This was going to be the best day ever, not only did she get to pick up everything she would need to attend her first year at Hogwarts, but this was the day she finally got to see her twin brother again, Harry Potter.

While Harry had been sent to live with their relatives the Dursley's, Briar was living with her god father, Remus Lupin AKA Uncle Moony. Uncle Moony had told her that she wasn't able to visit Harry since he lived with muggles and Briar had no idea how to act like a muggle.

Briar quickly combed the tangled mess of jet black hair, not that it helped to flatten it since it never would, and pulled on a pair of blue jeans, which were unfortunately ripped on one of the knees from when she fell off of her broom a couple of weeks ago, but to be fair it was windy, Uncle Moony had told her she wasn't allowed to fly in such weather, she got the full name treatment and everything when she got back inside ('BRIAR ROSE POTTER, WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!')

She then pulled on her favourite blue jumper and hopped on one foot as she tried to put on her sneakers without sitting down, but she wound up tripping and cursing when the Zonkos tea cup on the ground bit her ankle, she was at a loss as to why she even bought that, but then she remembered her Uncle Moony's face when his tea cup had bit his nose and she began to laugh.

She suddenly heard footsteps and hastily pulled on her other sneaker, before quickly hiding in her wardrobe.

She listened carefully as the footsteps came closer and closer, until she finally heard her bedroom door open and the footsteps as they entered her room.

She screamed as she threw open the wardrobe and jumped out.

Uncle Moony just looked back at her with a raised brow and an amused smile gracing his lips. Briar pouted at the fact that she had yet again failed to scare him.

"That's not fair, you were supposed to be scared" Briar whined, crossing her arms huffily, she never managed to scare him. Sure she managed to surprise him when she pranked him, but never make him jump.

Her Uncle Moony chuckled, making her huff. How dare he laugh at her attempt to scare him? That is treachery of the highest order!

"You are just like your father." Remus laughed "Right down to the pout. He always got huffy when he couldn't scare us, he once tried to scare us by hiding on top of his bed hangings, Merlin knows how he got up there, but all he achieved was making us laugh as we had to levitate him down."

Briar chuckled. She loved when her Uncle Moony compared her to her dad, it made warmth erupt in her chest that she was like someone she loved so dearly and was in her eyes one of the greatest men to ever live. She hated to think that Harry wasn't able to hear the stories of their parent's Hogwarts days like she could, but hopefully that would change soon, Uncle Moony said that when they met up with him and Hagrid she could ask if he wanted to stay with them until it was time to go to Hogwarts.

"Now come on, you need to have breakfast before-"

Briar didn't stick around for her Uncle Moony to finish his sentence, at the mention of food she immediately rushed down from her room and into the kitchen and all but groaned when she noticed Uncle Moony had made pancakes.

She immediately sat down and piled her plate as high as she could before pouring on a healthy dose of blueberry syrup and digging in. she loved her Uncle Moony's pancakes, he couldn't cook to save his life, everything else just seemed to explode or burn, or at one point both, it was probably why he was so bad at Potions, but one thing he could make was pancakes.

When her Uncle Moony made his way down the stairs she was already a quarter of a way though all her pancakes, and didn't look up when he sat down next to her and pulled a few pancakes onto his own plate, instead favouring stuffing her mouth with syrupy goodness.

"I swear, you are a bottomless pit" Uncle Moony commented, and Briar looked up to see him shaking his head in amusement.

"M a gfffggg grrmm, I nmm fmmm" She mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes, making Uncle Moony wrinkle his nose in disgust.

"Chew, swallow and then talk, Bambi" Uncle Moony told her, shaking his head.

She sighed as she began to chew. It always annoyed her that when you were eating and you wanted to speak it seemed it always takes you twice as long to chew your food. Finally she managed to swallow her huge mouthful.

"I said, 'I'm a growing girl, I need food'" Briar told him with a roll of her hazel eyes, he has lived with her for nine years now, as far as she was concerned he should be able to understand her even with her mouth full, so it was his own fault really.

"Exactly, a growing girl, not a growing Hippogryff" Uncle Moony replied teasingly, and Briar grinned as she shoved the last mouthful of pancakes into her mouth.

"All done" Briar said, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied grin and patting her flat stomach, she really did find herself lucky that she had such a high metabolism as she was sure she should be obese by now.

She watched eagerly as Remus flicked his wand and allowed her plates to float over to the sink and begin to wash themselves. She was so excited to go to meet her brother, hopefully they'll be really close, and Uncle Moony said they used to be when they were little, that they spoke at the same time and everything.

She also couldn't wait to finally go to Hogwarts; she wanted to see what mayhem she could cause with magic at her disposal. She didn't tell her Uncle Moony this, but she was planning on trying to beat her father's and uncle Padfoot's record for detentions in first year, it shouldn't be too hard to sneak into Filch's office to see how many they got.

She was so caught up in her excitement that she didn't notice she was bouncing on her chair until Uncle Moony said "You look like you're hopped up on Fizzing Wizzbees, Bambi, so stop bouncing, that chair is old and you've already blown it up four times already you'll break it"

"I have only blown up this chair three times" she told him indignantly, but did stop her bouncing "the other time I made the mistake of hiding the wet start fireworks in the sink and blew up the bathroom"

"Ahh yes, that's entirely different" Uncle Moony teased, finally finishing his breakfast and sending his plates to the sink with a flick of his wand.

Briar grinned up at him as she hopped to her feet, eager to get going. She was lucky to have a marauder as a guardian. Granted he is fairly responsible and he was a _prefect _at school, but at least he could see the humour in pranks so she wouldn't have to worry about having any howlers arrive at Hogwarts.

"Can we go now?" Briar whined, hopping on the balls of her feet impatiently as her Uncle Moony pulled on his coat.

"Hang on, Bambi; I just have to put my shoes on" Uncle Moony told her, but her eyes narrowed when she caught the tiny smirk that had appeared on his face.

She looked at him suspiciously for a few moments, wondering what that smirk could be about, before her question was answered. He was putting on his shoes as slow as physically possible. Briar glared at him fiercely, but if he saw he didn't make any indication as he continued to put on his shoes at the slowest pace known to Witch or Wizard, probably known to muggles too.

"Come on" she groaned out angrily, getting fed up and throwing her arms up in frustration.

Her uncle Moony chuckled as he finally put on his shoes.

"I knew that would annoy you, it used to always work on James when he wanted to go to a Quidditch match, Peter used to use it so that he'd get fed up and leave and he could get some more sleep" Uncle Moony chuckled.

Briar noticed that his brown eyes went sad when he mentioned her Uncle Wormtail. He was dead, murdered along with thirteen muggles by her very own Uncle Padfoot. She couldn't believe it, whenever she thought of her uncle Padfoot she got a warm feeling in her chest as she pictured the handsome man with the mischievous grin and the shaggy black dog he could turn into. She didn't really have any memories of anyone since she was only two when everything went so wrong, but she just couldn't imagine him doing something like that.

However she chose to brush past the sad look, knowing that he was trying to hide it and instead focus on the interesting topic he bought up. QUIDDITCH!

"Speaking of Quidditch, I wanted to try out for the team, but look at this" Briar said huffily, pulling her Hogwarts letter from her pocket and reading "_'Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own broomsticks' _What a stupid rule, I mean who came up with that anyway? I am probably better than most of the people on the team and now I have to wait a whole year to try out, a whole year, I can't believe it!" Briar ranted, her voice getting more passionate throughout her speech and took a deep breath in when she finished, not having noticed she didn't stop to breath throughout the rant.

Briar ignored the amused look on her Uncle Moony's face and instead eyed her Nimbus 1700 broom that was by the door, contemplating. Maybe she could sneak it in somehow. She could probably brew a simple shrinking potion if she tried hard enough and then it would fit in her trunk and Uncle Moony would never have to know.

"Don't even think about it" Uncle Moony said in a warning tone, and Briar knew he had caught on to her train of thought, she was too much like her father for her own good, it meant her Uncle Moony could read her easily since he was one of his best friends for ten years.

"Don't think about what?" Briar asked, blinking her hazel eyes and trying to look as innocent as possible.

"I'm serious Briar Rose, before you leave for Hogwarts I'm doing a bag search" Uncle Moony said firmly and Briar resisted the urge to groan at the use of her full name that meant he was not playing around.

"Fine" she puffed out in annoyance, crossing my arms.

"Now come on, I'll apparate you to the Leaky Cauldron and you can wait there for Hagrid and Harry" Uncle Moony told her, holding out his arm for her to take.

Briar instantly brightened at the mention of her twin and quickly held onto her Uncle Moony's arm, eager to finally meet the person she had wanted to meet for nine years.

"Before we go, what are the rules at the Leaky cauldron?" Uncle Moony asked with a raised brow.

Briar rolled her eyes, honestly, he thought so little of her. As if she was going to cause trouble in the Leaky Cauldron…again.

"No lying to Tom about my age to get fire Whiskey, no gambling with the older customers even if I'm good at what they're playing, no making fun of the old woman with greasy hair who always sits in the corner and absolutely no turning any object or surface of the Leaky Cauldron an obnoxiously bright colour" Briar listed bored, they had to go through this every time they went to Diagon Alley.

"Good" Uncle Moony nodded and then he turned on the spot.

Briar felt the familiar sensation of get sucked through a tube like all the air was sucked out of her and her insides were getting squeezed so tight they were going to explode. Before she could dwell on the horrible feeling however, it was over and they had appeared in the Leaky Cauldron with a crack.

Despite being such a famous place, the Leaky Cauldron was rather grubby-looking, the inside was rather dark and shabby, and Briar always hated it when you stepped out into the bright street after being inside: it made her eyes hurt.

There weren't that many people in the Leaky Cauldron, of course there rarely was, it was mainly famous for being a pass through point from the Muggle to Wizarding world rather than it actually having lots of business.

Briar straight away noticed the greasy haired woman in the corner, it seemed like she spent her whole life just sitting there. Actually she probably did, it would probably mean she didn't get out to have a shower that was probably how she had gotten such greasy hair. However for once she wasn't alone, she had a couple of other women with her, all of them drinking sherry and one was smoking a pipe.

Briar noticed Dedalus Diggle talking to Tom the old Bartender, who only had a few tufts of hair and no teeth, but he was a nice enough bloke.

She went over to sit next to Dedalus at the bar. She had always like him, he was funny, not to mention he always wore that funny top hat, when she was eight she had stolen it and spent about three hours wearing it before he had managed to get off of her.

"Hey, Dedalus, Tom" Briar chirped as she sat on the stool.

"Hello, Briar, first year at Hogwarts?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, I'm so excited I can't wait to see what trouble I can cause with magic, I mean I'm bad enough now" Briar replied with a mischievous smirk.

"Oooh, you should try hard in transfiguration there is nothing funnier than some unsuspecting person's bag turning into a bird and flying away" Dedalus said in his usual bubbly voice, nodding excitedly so that his top hate slipped slightly and he had to push it back up.

"The usual, Hagrid?" Tom asked suddenly, looking over Briar's shoulder and reaching for a glass.

Briar's head snapped around so fast she was surprised it didn't break.

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business" Hagrid replied, puffing out his chest in pride.

Hagrid looked the same as ever, his black beetle eyes glinting happily behind his shaggy mane of black hair and black beard and twice the size of a normal wizard and almost four times as wide. He was also wearing the coat he always wears, she lost a mouse in there when she first met him, which was when she was five, and she never did see it again.

However, it was the small boy that was standing next to him that held her attention. It was Harry Potter. He looked like a male replica of her, with the same unruly black hair that would never lie flat, of course his was short, the same pale skin and skinny frame, the same almond shaped eyes and button nose, the only difference was that he had gotten their mums emerald green eyes rather than their father's hazel.

Briar was about to greet Hagrid and Harry, when Tom spoke up.

"Good lord," Tom said, peering at Harry "is this…can this be…?" the Leaky Cauldron had gone suddenly even quieter than it already was, it was almost eerie "Bless my soul" Tom whispered "Harry Potter…What an honour" Tom then hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, Briar was surprised to see he had tears in his eyes.

Briar watched in amusement as Harry went bright red and tried to shift to hide behind Hagrid, only for him to move out of the way beaming like he had been told he could have a dragon for Christmas.

Suddenly there was a great scraping of chairs and everyone in the Leaky Cauldron all jumped up to great Harry, so that Briar had to hold onto the edges of her stool so as to not get shoved off.

The greasy haired woman got to him first, shaking his hand saying "Doris Crockford, Mr Potter, Can't believe I'm meeting you at last"

So, her names Doris Crockford. Briar supposed it fit; it was an old woman's name. Then again she had never told Briar her name, not that she's asked, preferring to instead turn her greasy hair Slytherin green…Briar has the sneaky feeling she didn't appreciate it, but oh well, Briar found it funny.

"So proud Mr Potter, so proud" the woman who had been smoking the pipe said, shaking his hand.

"Always wanted to shake your hand…I'm all of a flutter" the third woman squealed, as though her greatest wish had been granted and she could now die happily.

"Delighted, Mr Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle" Dedalus' bubbly voice came, as he all but jumped up and down as he shook her twin's hand.

"I've seen you before" Harry said as Dedalus' top hat fell off in his excitement "you bowed to me once in a shop"

Briar snorted in amusement, trust it to Dedalus to go and stalk him in a shop. She really shouldn't have told him where Harry lived, but to be fair she was ten and had had a couple of glasses of fire whiskey by convincing Tom she was actually of age but a potion had just gone wrong and left her as a child, that was probably one of the few time Uncle Moony had gotten honestly angry.

"He remembers!" Dedalus cried, looking around at everyone "Did you hear that? He remembers me?"

Briar grinned in amusement as Harry shook hand again and again, a dreadfully uncomfortable look on his face the whole time, which only made it more amusing in her opinion. The greasy haired Doris Crockford must have shaken his hand at least seven times before she finally decided to just observe him from a distance.

A pale young man wearing a funny purple turban made his way forward, very nervously. One of his blue eyes was twitching. Briar looked at him suspiciously, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something very wrong with that man, especially when a shiver went down her spine.

"Professor Quirrell! Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts" Hagrid said to Harry.

Briar eyed the pale turban-wearing man again, wondering what on earth he could teach; he looked ready to faint at a small noise. Briar suddenly smirked, well that would definitely be fun, and maybe one of her detentions could be for scaring the wits out of Quirrell.

"P-P-Potter," Professor Quirrell stammered, grasping Harry's hand. "C-cant t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you"

"What sort of magic do you teach, professor Quirrell?" Harry asked politely.

He must get that from mum, Briar concluded. Uncle Moony always said she was exactly like her dad and she was in no means polite.

She stared at the man waiting for his answer, she noted how his eyes seemed to twitch every ten seconds, almost as if he planned it.

"D-Defense against the D-D-Dark Arts" mutter Professor Quirrell and Briar snorted quietly, he looked as though he was scared to even think about it, Briar would bet her broomstick that his lesson will be a bust "n-not that you n-need it, eh, P-Potter?" he laughed nervously "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself" he looked terrified at the very thought.

Briar rolled her hazel eyes. Why would you become a defence against the dark arts professor when you were that scared, surely you would try to find a more relaxing job? Something was definitely up with that man; she just couldn't put her finger on it.

It had taken almost ten minutes for everyone to finally disperse away from Harry. Briar had already gotten bored of watching Harry awkwardly greet people and ended up tapping a random tune on the bar before she could finally go over to them.

"Hiya Hagrid, blimey it took long enough to get away from them" she grinned as she skipped up to him and Harry, the latter who eyed her curiously, probably noticing there similarities.

"How are yeh doin' Briar, s'pose you're excited to meet Harry are yeh?" Hagrid said beaming brightly.

Briar looked to Harry who was blushing slightly and she couldn't contain herself and quickly pulled him into a tight hug. She felt him freeze in shock, but she didn't care, she was meeting her twin for the first time in nine years, by the time she pulled away he had mustered enough courage to just pat her awkwardly on the back.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited I've been waiting to see you again for nine years" Briar gushed and she wouldn't be able to get the grin of her face even if she tried.

Harry gave her a curious glance before turning to Hagrid, clearly wanting an explanation.

"Harry, this is Briar Rose Potter, she's yeh twin sister" Hagrid said happily, his beard twitching with a huge smile.

"M-my sister?" Harry stuttered in shock "I-I never knew"

Well that did it, her smile was officially gone.

"What? Aunt Petunia never even mentioned me?" Briar asked slightly shocked, she knew she couldn't visit because she didn't know how to act like a muggle, with all their fellytones and tellyvishuns, but she thought the Dursley's would at least mention her, even in passing.

"No sorry, she didn't tell me anything" Harry said "But it's nice to meet you, at least I've got a family member who actually likes you"

Briar felt rather sorry for Harry at the fact that he got stuck in the muggle world with the Dursley's while she got to stay with Uncle Moony, but she suspected if he was anything like her he wouldn't respond well to pity, so she decided to change the subject.

"Well of course I like you, I mean look how handsome you are" she told him with a smirk.

"We're identical apart from the eyes" Harry replied.

"Exactly" she replied, her smirk widening and he laughed "I mean, look could you find anything more beautiful" she added gesturing arrogantly to her face making Harry laugh again.

Hagrid was positively beaming at them getting along.

"Anyway you two, Must get on – lots ter buy. Come on" Hagrid said and led the twins through the bar and out into the small, walled courtyard that held the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Told yeh, didn't I?" Hagrid said to Harry "Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh…mind you, he's usually tremblin'"

"Is he always that nervous?" Briar asked, still feeling rather suspicious of the turban-wearing professor.

"Oh, yeah" Hagrid replied with a look of pity on his face. "Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience…they say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag…never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"

Briar frowned.

She wasn't so sure that what Hagrid said was true. No one stutters that much. There was something very wrong with that man; she just wished she could figure out what it was. Maybe it was the smell? He did smell strangely of garlic, but that didn't seem right, it was something else, something she had never smelt before so couldn't like to anything.

"Three up…two across" Hagrid muttered, counting the brings as he tried to find the right one to tap to open the archway "Right stand back you two"

Briar took a step back along with Harry as Hagrid tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The only way to get though there is to tap it with a wand and uncle Moony had told her that Hagrid was expelled in his third year and his wand snapped, so how can…

Briar's eyes lit up with realisation and she smirked. He had put half of his wand in the umbrella. Why that sneaky half giant, and he tells her she's a trouble maker.

The brick Hagrid's umbrella touched shuddered and wriggled before a small hole appeared and Briar watch impatiently as it began to get wider, she really wanted to get into Diagon Alley. Finally the three of them were facing an archway even large enough for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome" Hagrid said, pausing dramatically before adding "to Diagon Alley."

Briar shared a grin with Hagrid at the look of utter amazement as he looked at the street in front of them, his green eyes wide. They stepped though the arch way and Briar noticed Harry eyeing the nearest shop, which sold Cauldrons.

"We'll be needing one of them" Briar said, pulling out her Hogwarts letter and looking at the list.

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY UNIFORM. **_

_**First-year students will require: **_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) **_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear **_

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) **_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings). **_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags. **_

_**COURSE BOOKS: All students should have a copy of each of the following: **_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk, **_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, **_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling, **_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch, **_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore, **_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger, **_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander, **_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble. **_

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT: **_

_**Wand, **_

_**Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2),**_

_**Set-glass or crystal phials, **_

_**Telescope, set-brass scales. **_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad. PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.**_

Briar paused a second to glare at the note about broomsticks not being allowed for first years before stuffing the letter back into her pocket.

"Yeh, but we gotta get yer money first" Hagrid replied.

Briar nodded. She didn't use her parents vault very often, only when she needed new things that Uncle Moony could afford, with him being a werewolf it was rather hard for him to hold down a job. She was just glad that she was born an animagus so that she didn't have to leave the house when he transformed, despite being basically harmless due to the Wolfsbane potion, he was still worried something might go wrong so he made her promise to stay transformed when he changed as werewolves don't pose a threat to animals.

Briar turned to look at Eeylops Owl Emporium as a soft hooting came from the dark shop. She really wanted to get an owl, she never had much of a need to before since she didn't really know anyone to send a letter to, but she would want to send letters to Uncle Moony when at Hogwarts.

Her head suddenly snapped to the side when she heard a boys voice "Look, the new Nimbus Two Thousand – fastest ever", and she quickly ran over to press her nose against the glass like they were doing.

It was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen, the handle was smooth and varnished, with gold lettering saying 'nimbus 2000' and the twigs were all streamlined and in line, if only she didn't have a perfectly good broom at home.

Briar didn't want to stop staring at the broom in awe, so in the end Harry had to literally drag her from the shop.

After a few more minutes of walking down the cobbled street and Briar looking longingly over her shoulder in the general direction of where the broom was, they reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops, a goblin standing beside the burnished bronze doors in a scarlet and old uniform.

"Gringotts" Hagrid told Harry and then must have saw him staring wide-eyed at the goblin as he said quietly "Yeah, that's a goblin" as they walked up the white stone steps.

Briar chuckled as she saw Harry look at the words engraved on the silver doors in front of them. She's always rather liked it, wasn't often you could get threatened in poem format.

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it" Hagrid told Harry.

A pair of Goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses.

Briar followed Hagrid and Harry to the counter.

"Morning" Hagrid said to a free Goblin "We've come to take some money out Mr Harry Potter and Miss Briar Potter's safe"

"You have your keys?" the goblin asked looking down it's long nose at them.

Briar rolled her eyes as she grabbed her key from her pocket, she had never particularly like Goblins, too greedy and judgmental. They always look down on Uncle Moony whenever he brings her here, as though they know he hasn't got much money.

"Here you go" Briar said handing the small golden key to the Goblin.

"And you?" The Goblin asked Harry, who looked slightly unnerved, but Hagrid answered for him.

"Got It here somewhere" Hagrid said and started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers.

The Goblin wrinkled it's long nose in disgust and then glared at her when she began to giggle at its expression, she couldn't help it, it was good to see such a stuck up creature have a mess on its desk.

"Got it" Hagrid said finally, and handed the Goblin an identical key to the one Briar had just handed over.

The Goblin took the key and held it close to Briar's, looking at them closely with its beady eyes.

"That seems to be in order" The Goblin said, finally looking up from the keys.

"An' I've also got a letter here from professor Dumbledore" said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest "it's about the you-know-what in vault seven hundred and thirteen"

The Goblin read the letter Hagrid handed it carefully. Briar's curiosity was spiked, she really wanted to know what was so important that Dumbledore would send Hagrid, he did tend to send him on important jobs, Uncle Moony told her that Dumbledore sent Hagrid to get her and Harry from the wreckage that is now their house in Godric's Hollow.

"Very well" the Goblin said, handing the letter back to Hagrid "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

Briar moved to follow Griphook to one of the doors leading off the hall, but smiled in amusement when she and Harry had to stop to wait for Hagrid to pick up all the dog biscuits and cram them back inside his pockets, before we could begin to follow Griphook again.

Briar smiled when the four of them clambered into the small cart that arrived and they began hurtle downward, feeling the cool air whip her face, if she closed her eyes she could imagine she was flying, and she loved flying.

"I never know" I heard Harry call to Hagrid over the noise of the cart "What's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it" Hagrid replied "an' don' ask me question just now, I think I'm gonna be sick" he added, looking very green.

Briar chuckled at Hagrid's answer; somehow she doubted that was the answer Harry was looking for.

When the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling. Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out like it always did and Briar smiled as Harry gasped at the sight of all the Knuts, Sickles and Galleons inside the vault. The Potter's were a very well off pureblood family.

Briar helped Harry get the correct amount into a small bag as she collected her own, as it appeared he didn't know anything about wizarding money.

"The gold ones are galleons" Briar explained "seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle"

"It's easy enough" Hagrid told Harry "Briar's got yeh both enough ter last fer a couple o' terms; we'll keep the rest safe for yeh" Hagrid then turned to Griphook as they all got into the cart again and pleaded, "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only" Griphook replied.

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Briar leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, Harry following her example, but Hagrid groaned and pulled them back by the scruffs of their necks.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole; Briar had never seen anything like it.

"Stand back" said Griphook importantly and then he stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away "if anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there."

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years" said Griphook rather nastily.

"Oh, that's evil" Briar said with a smirk worthy of a Slytherin.

Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, she was sure, and she and Harry leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least, but at first she thought it was empty. Then she noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.

Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Briar longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask, she shared a glance with Harry and saw curious look on his face. She thought back to the package thoughtfully. It had to be something extremely important, but what could it be that was only about two inches long? She was noting every little detail, filing it away for later.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart" Hagrid said, he looked sick at the very thought, "And don't either of you talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut" He told them.

One wild cart ride later and Briar was standing next to Hagrid and her twin, blinking her hazel eyes against the sunlight outside of Gringotts. Briar looked around, not sure where to go first. She had been in Diagon Alley many times, but that was usually just so Uncle Moony could pick something up, now she was there to buy things for herself. She bounced on the balls of her feet impatiently, hoping Hagrid would decide where they're going already as she was sorely tempted to just run of to _Quality Quidditch Supplies _and stare at the Nimbus Two Thousand some more.

"Might as well get yer uniforms" said Hagrid, nodding towards _Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_. "Listen, you two, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts"

A minute later, Hagrid was ambling off in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron, still looking fairly green, and she and Harry entered the shop by themselves. She looked at all the different coloured robes that lined the walls. A certain green one, which matched the colour of Harry's eyes, with gold embroidery caught her eyes, but she didn't think she would like to wear Slytherin colours.

The bell on the door rang as we entered and almost a second later a witch hurried to greet us. Madame Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dears?" She said when Harry opened his mouth to speak "Got the lot here, another young man being fitted up, just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Briar instantly disliked him, based on the haughty expression on his face and his white blond hair he was a Malfoy, and she knew as well as anyone that the lot of them were no good, his father was among the many people that made it difficult for her Uncle Moony to get a job.

"Hello," said the Malfoy boy as she and Harry both stood up on the empty stools "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes" Harry replied shortly.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands" said the boy.

Briar frowned. According to her uncle Moony the wand chooses the wizard not the other way around, so she wasn't quite sure how his mother was supposed to get him a wand.

"Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." The boy continued.

Briar wrinkled her nose at the thought that not too long ago she was thinking along the same lines as a _Malfoy_, at least without the bullying part.

Briar shared a glance with Harry, communicating silently. It seemed they had both came to the same conclusion that the boy was a brat.

"Have you got your own brooms?" the boy went on.

"No" Harry said, and Briar opted not to answer.

"Play Quidditch at all?" he asked.

"No" Harry said again, his voice frustrated.

It was truly a testament to her will power that she didn't immediately jump into a rant about Quidditch, which teams were good, which teams were bad, about how she wanted to be a chaser although she was fairly certain she would make a good seeker. However, she managed to stay silent; she didn't much want to talk to this boy about anything, not even something as amazing as Quidditch.

"I do. Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked for my house, and I must say, I agree." The Malfoy boy said and Briar had to bite back saying ("Well he's your father, he would have to say that") "Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"We'll be in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, just like our parents" Briar told the boy resolutely, there was no doubt in her mind that she would make Gryffindor, and Harry was her twin so surely he would make it too.

The boy turned his nose up in disgust and she glared at him, anyone who looked down on Gryffindors was certainly a Slytherin.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been, imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy said with a superior like chuckle.

"Hmm" Harry said, clearly not knowing what was going on, but Briar opted to stay quiet again.

She didn't feel like there was anything wrong with being a Hufflepuff, it was where the kind and loyal people went. Briar knew she wasn't the kindest person around but she saw it as the height of dishonour so mistrust your friends, breaking your loyalty. Leave it to a Malfoy to look down on those traits.

"I say, look at that man!" the Malfoy boy said suddenly, nodding toward the front window.

Briar turned, hissing slightly as the witch fitting her robes jabbed her with the needle. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at her and Harry and pointing at three large ice creams to show that he couldn't come in. Briar eyes the ice cream hungrily, Fortescue's ice cream in Diagon Alley was always the nicest in her opinion. She really hoped she and Harry would to be done soon, if not so she could eat, so she could get away from the Malfoy spawn.

"That's Hagrid-" Harry started.

"-He works at Hogwarts" Briar finished for him, resisting the urge to smile at the fact she was already beginning to act like Harry's twin, even now she felt in tune with him.

"Oh," said the boy "I've heard of him. He's sort of a servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper" Briar said tightly, her hazel eyes narrowed.

She could feel dislike coiling in her stomach, something she didn't feel too often, the only people she had ever truly disliked before now were the people who refused her Uncle Moony a job just because of his 'furry little problem'.

"Yes, exactly." The boy replied, and Briar shared an annoyed glance with Harry at how the boy seemed oblivious to their dislike towards him "I heard he's a sort of savage, lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed"

Briar knew that the part about setting fire to his bed wasn't a stretch, but Hagrid was one of the nicest people she knew, he couldn't be described as a savage.

"We think he's brilliant" said Harry coldly, answering for the both of them.

"Do you?" said the Malfoy boy with a slight sneer "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead" Harry said shortly.

Briar was glad that he didn't elaborate as she was sure as soon as the Malfoy spawn knew he was the famous 'boy who lived' he would suddenly start acting a whole lot nicer. Malfoy's always had to have connections, and she supposed a connection to the boy who defeated Voldemort when he was a baby would be good in anyone's eyes.

"Oh, sorry" said the boy and Briar glared at the fact that he didn't sound sorry at all "but they were our kind"

"They were a witch and a wizard-" Briar started.

"-If that's what you mean" Harry finished for her.

She was just as sure that the Malfoy boy would get into Slytherin as she was that she and Harry would be in Gryffindor. With the way he was talking he was definitely following in his ancestors footsteps at caring about blood purity.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same; they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. I'm a Malfoy. What's your surname, anyway?"

Briar glared intensely, her dislike mounting and anger fizzling beneath the surface. Screw his blood purity, her and Harry's mum was a muggleborn and her uncle Moony told her she was top in the year. Having muggle blood did nothing to dampen someone's magical talent. Not to mention Harry grew up not knowing about the wizarding world and there was no way that 'the boy who lived' wasn't going to study at Hogwarts.

Before she could snap at him however, Madame Malkin said "That's you two done, dears" and Briar sighed in relief as the witch fitting her and Harry's robes stood back, she didn't think Madame Malkin would appreciate it if she shouted at the boy in the middle of her store.

"Well, see you at Hogwarts, I suppose" the boy drawled and she and Harry paid for their robes before leaving.

When they got outside, Briar eagerly took one of the ice creams from Hagrid and immediately began to eat it, resisting the urge to groan at the wonderful taste. Food only came third to Quidditch and Pranking.

"What's up?" Briar heard Hagrid ask Harry, she had been too caught up in eating her ice cream to notice that Harry had gone rather quiet with a strange look on his face.

"Nothing" Harry replied and Briar noticed that his voice seemed to go a fraction higher when he lied, barely noticeable.

Briar didn't push Harry to answer, instead quickly entering the next shop to buy parchment and quills, something Harry seemed to find strange. According to him, muggles used something called a 'pen' which already had the ink inside. Muggles really were smart, those 'pens' sounded excellent.

Briar managed to cheer her twin up a bit when she found a cool bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. She bought more bottles than she needed in the hope to experiment with them slightly, wondering if she could get the ink to flash as well as change colour.

When they had left the shop, Harry said, "Briar, what's Quidditch?"

Briar gasped in horror, fancy her twin not knowing about Quidditch, she would have to teach him, there was no way that could go on. He was a Potter; he had to know about Quidditch.

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know – not knowin' about Quidditch!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Don't make me feel worse" Harry groaned.

"It's our sport, you'll love it, it's the best thing in the world…" Briar gushed, then continued to explain everything she knew, Hagrid cutting in now and again to give a muggle analogy.

She explained about the three chasers and the Quaffle, about how that's her favourite position as you get to do loads in the whole game, then about the golden snitch and seeker, the Bludgers and beaters, the keeper and the three hoops.

She then started on famous Quidditch teams, how the Tornadoes were first to win lately as they seemed to have picked up a talented seeker, but how she supports the Holyhead Harpies as not only are they talented but are one of the only teams made up wholly of girls.

Finally, she spoke of brooms, about how the nimbus is the best, but the Cleansweeps were second, about how she would love to have a Nimbus 2000, which was the next in the series to her own Nimbus 1700. She then finished by grumbling about how first years aren't allowed their own brooms.

When Briar had finished in her ranting, Harry looked rather overwhelmed but seemed to be taking his new twins obsession with Quidditch in stride.

Harry and Briar then proceeded to tell Hagrid about the Malfoy boy in Madame Malkin's when he asked why Harry had wanted to know.

"-And he said that people from muggle families-" Briar continued in their explanation.

"-Shouldn't even be allowed in" Harry finished for her.

"Yer not from a Muggle family. An' Harry if he'd known who yeh were, he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh." Hagrid said.

Briar nodded in agreement.

"Hagrid's right. You just want to look out for those Malfoy's. Rotten, the lot of them, they were among the first to come back to our side after the war. They're all obsessed with Slytherin and blood purity, I mean decent Wizards and Witches all know that blood doesn't matter" Briar explained.

"Some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' muggles" Hagrid agreed enthusiastically "Just look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

Briar looked between Harry and Hagrid at the comparison. When she imagined her Aunt Petunia she always imagined a sweet woman who was just like Uncle Moony had told her her mum was, but it seems she was far from the truth. Briar felt a tab of dislike towards her relative at the very idea of her even daring to mistreat Harry.

"So, what are Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"They're school houses, like I said we're going to be in Gryffindor like our parents, I just know it" Briar said confidently.

"Yeah, there are four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but-" Hagrid started.

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" Harry cut in gloomily.

"You won't be Harry, the Potter's come from a long line of Gryffindors, apart from maybe our Grandmother, and with a twin as amazingly talented and beautiful as me you're sure to make it" Briar said arrogantly, making Harry laugh.

"Besides, it's better to be in Hufflepuff than Slytherin" Hagrid said darkly and Briar agreed one hundred per cent "there's not a single witch or wizard that went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You- know-who was one"

Briar frowned, thinking about her Uncle Padfoot. He supposedly went bad and he was a Gryffindor, but she decided not to point it out, still not entirely believing his was capable of such horrendous things.

"Vol-, sorry, you-know-who was at Hogwarts?" Harry gasped.

Briar knew he must have stopped himself from saying Voldemort's name for Hagrid's sake. Nearly the entire wizarding world was too scared to say his name, but having grown up with a man who used to be a member of the Order of The Phoenix, she was bought up being told that not saying his name just gave him more power.

"Yeas an' years ago" Hagrid said and Briar tried to imagine the boy who would eventually become the darkest wizard since Grindelwald as a first year, but she couldn't.

They went to buy their school books next, in _Flourish and Blotts _where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather, books the size of postage stamps covered in silk that Briar was sure she would lose in a second in her messy room, books full of peculiar symbols that she recognised vaguely as ancient runes and a few books with nothing in them at all.

Briar flicked through all the different books as Hagrid found the books her and Harry would need for Hogwarts. She started looking at the easy ones and getting up to the harder ones. She tried to memorise all the different spells and magical theories, if she could just remember most of them now, then she wouldn't have to open her books very often. She also wanted to look for spells that would be useful in pranks, such as '_Colerum_', which changed the colour of an object of person.

She was laughing loudly as she and Hagrid had to drag Harry away from _Curses and Counter curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tong-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian. _

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley" Harry explained as they left and she vaguely recalled that it was the name of their cousin.

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid.

"Who made up that rule, anyway?" Briar grumbled, she knew that since she lived with a wizard she could get away with some magic, but she also knew that her Uncle Moony wouldn't let her.

"An' anyway," Hagrid continued either not hearing or ignoring her comment, "yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

Briar smirked, she decided to take that as a challenge. She would learn those curses and hopefully she'll be able to use them against the Slytherins.

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.

"Just yer wands left. A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh two a birthday present."

Briar smiled gratefully and watched as Harry turned red and mutter, "You don't have to…"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animals. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer both an owl. All the kids want owls; they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'." Hagrid told them.

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Briar looked down happily at the Owl she was holding in its golden cage. She was beautiful, her black feathers sparkled in the light, turning slightly blue and she had wide blue eyes.

Briar had decided to name her Onyx due to her dark feathers.

Briar stammered her thanks along with Harry, but stopped when he pointed out that they were starting to sound like Professor Quirrell and she didn't want to be anything like that strange turban-wearing man.

"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivander's left now - only place fer wands, Ollivander's, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

Briar shared an excited look with Harry. This was what she had been waiting for, to get a magic wand. If only we were allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts, she would have so much fun planning pranks and experimenting.

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B. C. _A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. Every single wall was filled with boxes upon boxes of wands, most of them dusty from being there for such a long time. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice.

Harry jumped, almost knocking her over as she had been standing behind him. Harry smiled apologetically and Briar faux glared at him, ruffling her hair up so it had that 'just stepped of a broom look' she had long since sopped caring about how unruly her hair was and learnt to love it instead.

Hagrid must have jumped too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off of the spindly chair.

An old man, that Briar supposed must be Ollivander himself, was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.

Briar studied the man; he had a calculating stare, as though he was memorizing everything about you, taking it all it. Briar found it a bit disconcerting and wasn't entirely sure whether she like Ollivander or not.

"Ah yes" Ollivander said in the same soft voice as before "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you two soon. Harry and Briar Potter." It wasn't a question and Briar supposed she shouldn't have been surprised everyone knew who Harry was and she did look almost identical to him "you two look just like your father, but you Mr Potter have your mother's eyes." Ollivander told them "It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work"

Briar's dark brows rose in surprise. Merlin only knows how he remembered that, he must have sold millions of wands since then, nearly every witch and Wizard in Britain goes to Ollivander.

Ollivander moved closer to Harry. He had gotten so close that he and Harry were practically nose to nose. Briar pressed her lips together, trying hard not to laugh: Harry looked so awkward at the loss of his personal space.

"And that's where..." Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..." He shook his head and then turned to Hagrid. "Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Err - yes, they did, yes, " said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

Briar hated the idea of getting your wand snapped. Your wand was a part of you, woven so deeply within your magical essence and soul that it was a saddening experience to see it in pieces. She could only hope that it would never happen to her.

"But you don't use them?" said Mr Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly, a touch to quickly.

Briar hid a smirk as Hagrid's hand tightened on his pink umbrella. It seemed Hagrid could break the rules if he wanted to, although she didn't see why Hagrid should have his wand snapped when he was expelled, he didn't seem to have it in him to do anything dangerous.

"Hmmm," said Mr Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look before turning to Briar as though he didn't believe Hagrid either "Well, now start with Miss Potter shall we. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"Which is your wand arm?" he asked her.

"I'm right handed if that's what you mean" Briar told him, slightly confused as to why he would need to know.

"Hold out your arm." Ollivander told her and she proceeded to hold her arm out in front of her "That's it."

Ollivander aligned his tape measure with her arm and began to take measurements. He measured from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and around her head, why he would need to know her head circumference to select the correct wand was beyond her.

As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

The tape measure was now measuring by itself, taking the size between her nostrils, making her go slightly cross eyed when she tried to keep her eyes on it. Ollivander was now flitting around the many, many shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," Ollivander said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss Potter. Try this one. Beachwood and phoenix feather. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Briar stepped over the crumpled tape measure and took the wand. She waved it around a bit, but Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.

"Ebony and Dragon Heartstring. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Excellent for transfiguration. Try it" Ollivander said, handing her a dark, almost black, wand with lighter brown wood swirling around it.

As soon as the wand was placed into her hand, she felt a warmth spread through her fingers. She tried the wand and this time when she bought it through the air, red and gold sparks began to jump about the room, making it look as though the shelves were on fire.

She felt her lips turn up into a huge smile. Red and gold. Hopefully that was a sign she was in fact going to get into Gryffindor.

"Yes, that's the one" Ollivander said proudly, smiling.

Now it was Harry's turn, so Briar took a step back to stand by Hagrid, and watched as Ollivander took more boxes from the shelves as his tape measure measured Harry in the same way It had her a few moments prior.

"Maple and Unicorn Hair, Mr Potter" Ollivander said once the tape measure had finished it's administrations, handing Harry a pale brown wand.

Harry tried, but he had hardly raised the wand when it was snatched back by Ollivander.

"No, no – here, Ebony and Unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy." Ollivander said handing Harry another wand "Go on, go on, try it out"

Harry tried. And tried. Briar began to get bored watching Harry get wands snatched from his hand, the pile of wands on the spindly chair mounting. Briar looked down at her own dark wand longingly; she couldn't wait to use it. She ran her fingers over the lighter brown wood swirling around it, in her eyes it was perfect, but then again she supposed everyone thought that of their wands.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now -yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." Mr Ollivander said happily.

Harry took the wand and when Ollivander didn't immediately snatch it from his grip like he did the others, she watched closely.

Harry raised the wand above his head, bought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and green sparks shot from the end like a fire work, throwing dancing spots of light on the walls.

Hagrid and Briar whooped and clapped, as Harry had finally found the correct wand.

"Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh very good." Ollivander cried "Well, well, well…how curious…how very curious…" he took Briar and Harry's wands and put them back into their boxes, wrapping them in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious…curious…"

Harry looked at Briar with a confused expression, but she just shook his head, she had no idea what the strange man was muttering about. He was still muttering "curious", he was beginning to sound crazier and crazier with each passing second, and she was starting to think it wouldn't surprise her if he suddenly burst into song.

"I'm sorry-" Briar started.

"-But what's curious?" Harry finished.

Ollivander looked up, staring straight at Harry.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr Potter. Every single wand." Ollivander told him "It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar. Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."

Briar looked at the box containing Harry's wand in shock, and slight trepidation, but then again she supposed it was the wizard that committed the horrendous acts, which included killing her parents, not the wand.

Even so, Harry had the same core as Voldemort? That's got to mean something, and if it involved Voldemort it was safe to assume it wasn't anything good.

She and Harry each paid seven galleons for their wands before leaving the shop, Briar sighing in relief as she felt the sun on her skin, a stark contrast against the dark inside of Ollivander's shop.

"How am I getting back to the Dursley's?" Harry asked Hagrid as the three of them began to make their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Briar cleared her throat.

"Well, Harry, I spoke to my uncle and we were thinking, if you want to, you'd like to come and stay with us for the rest of the holidays?" Briar asked before adding "only if you want to" again.

She felt rather nervous asking him to stay, scared he was going to reject her offer, seeing as they hadn't seen each other in nine years and he didn't even know she existed. It was a strange feeling, being nervous, she couldn't remember the last time she was, but she knew she didn't like it.

"Really?" Harry gasped and Briar nodded. "I'd love to, you don't know how horrible the Dursley's are" Harry said, pulling her into a hug and Briar grinned happily.

"Glad I can be of help" Briar laughed.

Hagrid bought Briar and Harry some food from the Leaky Cauldron as we sat, waiting for her Uncle Moony to arrive, she knew he was out, hopefully getting a job at a bookstore in Hogsmeade, she hoped that he was running slightly late was a good sign.

"You alright, Harry?" Briar asked Harry around a mouth full of food as she noticed him picking at his own plate.

"Everyone thinks I'm so special" Harry said "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr Ollivander…but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for."

Hagrid leaned across the table towards Harry and behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.

"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact." Hagrid said warmly.

"And if not, just act as dumb as possible, that way even the tiniest bit of magic will seem like an accomplishment" Briar joked and smiled proudly when she got him to laugh.

Suddenly there was a crack and Briar grinned at the sudden arrival of her Uncle Moony and her grin only widened when Harry seemed in shock at him seemingly appearing out of thin air.

"Uncle Moony!" Briar shouted happily, rushing over to give him a hug "Harry said he'll stay with us for the rest of the holidays"

"That's great, Bambi" Uncle Moony laughed, before turning to Harry "Nice to see you again Harry, the last time I saw you was on your second birthday"

Harry smiled shyly.

"Nice to meet you two, Mr…" Harry trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Lupin," Uncle Moony supplied "but you can call me Remus"

It was only a matter of minutes after that, that Hagrid handed Harry his ticket to Hogwarts, and he and Briar were side along apparating back to her and Uncle Moony's house.

Harry looked slightly green at the travel, but that was to be expected, it wasn't as bad as Briars first time, the first time she did it she actually threw up, although to be fair she was only six.

"So how did the interview at the book store go?" Briar asked her Uncle Moony before he could grab a book from the bookshelf and become dead to the world like he always did when he read.

"I got it" Uncle Moony smiled and Briar squealed happily.

"Thank Merlin, I'm telling you, if they didn't they would have gotten a talking to" Briar said, attempting to look stern, but she could tell she failed when Uncle Moony chuckled and turned to his book.

Briar turned to look at her twin and smiled fondly at the fascination with which Harry looked about the house. He looked wide eyed at the clock which instead of Muggle numbers had planets on it, and was fascinated with the moving pictures on the walls, especially the one of Briar and him laughing madly at each other when they were only one.

Briar watched as he picked up the picture of her turning into her animagus form frowning.

"Did you change with a spell?" Harry asked, looking at her curiously.

"No" Briar laughed "I was born an animagus; I got it from our dad. Only you can't tell anyone though, because I'm not registered with the ministry" she told him and he nodded putting the picture down, but Briar could tell he still didn't quite understand.

"Come on, I'll show you up to my room, Uncle Moony told me he would conjure a bed for you since we don't have much room" Briar told him and quickly grabbed all her Hogwarts things and rushed up the stairs, gesturing for Harry to follow.

When she got up there she saw that Uncle Moony did in fact conjure a bed next to hers, it's plain sheets looking odd in her colourful mismatched room.

"Sorry it's a mess, I don't really clean often" Briar told Harry as she easily made her way through the mess to put all her Hogwarts things on her bed, before carefully placing Onyx, who was sleeping in her cage, in the corner of her room.

"I don't mind, it's better than my room at the Dursley's" Harry said happily, placing his own things on his bed and stoking his snowy white owl through the bars of her cage, Harry paused for a moment before asking "Why is your chair different colours?"

"Oh, I was experimenting with it to see if I could get it to glow in the dark, but it went wrong and now it just changes colour constantly, I don't know how to fix it and Uncle Moony refuses to. I think he feels having it stuck like that is a punishment, but to be honest I think it's really cool" Briar said making Harry laugh.


	3. Meeting The Twins

Chapter two

_Meeting Fred and George_

**"Briar Rose, let go this instant" Lily scolded, putting on her best 'stern mother' voice, but the small child ignored her, continuing to play with the fiery red locks that fascinated her. **

**"Bambi, no, let go of mummy's hair, she needs to give Harry a bath" James said as he came into the kitchen, ruffling his hair subconsciously, it was an annoying habit, but one it seemed he couldn't stop. **

**"James, why does Harry need a bath?" Lily tensely, looking disapproving at her husband.**

**"I don't know, I was gone for two seconds, and now I can't find my wand and Harry is covered in red paint" James replied confusedly.**

**Lily sighed, rolling her emerald green eyes. She should have known not to leave James alone with him, well in the vicinity of a wand at least. Last time she had left him alone to visit her best friends, Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadows, she had come back to find James asleep on the settee and Harry and Briar clutching his wand, the entire house, including the people inside, had been turned yellow, it had taken four days to find a way to reverse it.**

**Briar let out a giggle, and Lily's eyes widened as her daughter pulled a wand from her top, a wand she instantly recognised as James'.**

**"I paint Harry" Briar giggled.**

**"What?" Lily exclaimed, holding Briar at arm's length to fix her with her best 'mummy says that's wrong' look "Why would you do that?"**

**Lily watched as her daughter paused, apparently in thought, but already Lily could see a mischievous glint in her young daughters hazel eyes.**

**"I bored" Briar said finally, shrugging her small shoulders.**

**James began to laugh, making Lily glare at him as she placed Briar on her hip so that she could hit him around the back of the head.**

**"Ow, what was that for?" James asked, rubbing the spot she had hit him, but he was still chuckling slightly.**

**"Not only does she look exactly like you, but she acts like you too, so therefore I think it's safe to say that this is your fault" Lily replied, trying to sound stern, but she knew James saw the small smile forming on her lips, he always did. **

**"And since she is just like you" Lily continued, handing Briar to James "you can entertain her while I go and see to our son"**

**James watched as the love of his life left, his eyes bright with happiness, he always said she would end up with him one day, and he was unbelievably pleased that the prediction came true, after all, it would be the only one, as he was abysmal at divination. **

**He sat down with Briar on his lap and looked down at her happily. Lily was right in saying she looked just like him, she had his messy black hair, even if it was longer since she was a girl, the same mischievous hazel eyes and the same skinny frame. However he could see some Lily if he looked close enough, her eyes were the same shape, like almonds and she had a button nose like Lily too. **

**"You know Bambi, you're acting like a true marauder already" James told his daughter with a smile, before donning a faux shocked look at her confused expression "You mean you don't know what the marauders are?"**

**Briar shook her head, looking up at him eagerly, awaiting the explanation. **

**"The marauders are a group of troublemaking pranksters. It was me, prongs, your uncle Padfoot, your uncle moony and your uncle Wormtail." James explained with a grin "we caused a lot of mischief, but we were all the best of friends, brothers really. Like when your uncle Padfoot ran away from home I took him in, or when we found out your uncle moony was a werewolf, we stuck with him; we were always there for each other. Hopefully you'll make friends like that when you're bigger"**

**"But I big now" Briar huffed, pouting, making James chuckle "I make trouble"**

**James laughed "yes, but you have to wait until you're eleven, that's when your Hogwarts letter will come. I bet you'll be in Gryffindor"**

The next few weeks at home were the best they've ever been. She was really starting to like this finishing each other's sentences deal, not only did she not have to explain much to Harry since he seemed to already know her train of thought, but it was also a lot less effort to only say half a sentence. Merlin she was lazy. Her and Harry seemed to be as close at twins should be and he seemed to be getting more and more comfortable living in a wizarding household each day, at least he didn't jump when the mirror in the hall shouted at him to comb his hair anymore.

Briar did end up experimenting with her colour changing ink and she was proud to say it was successful. Well, the first time she had done it the whole thing had melted, so that she now had a big blob of colourful ink on her desk and the second time it had exploded, meaning Onyx was not happy to be covered in ink, but the final time she realised she should add glowing lacewings and she finally managed it.

Harry didn't seem to be as much of a trouble maker as he was seemingly content to just read his school books, but at least he found her pranks funny, rather than shouting at her when he found himself covered in orange dots one day.

Briar and Harry mainly spent their days contemplating what Hogwarts was going to be like, playing chess or exploding snap with her Uncle Moony and sometimes playing tag in the fields around the house (Harry had deemed it cheating to turn into her animagus form since deer are faster than people).

Finally the first of September had arrived and Briar and Harry were both eating bacon and eggs, which was thankfully edible since Harry had cooked them, with Uncle Moony reading the Daily Prophet on the other side of the table.

Their trunks had been packed for a couple of days now, and Briar was stroking Onyx, who was hooting in reply, Onyx appeared to be a rather lazy bird, that revelled in the attention, Harry often agreed with Uncle Moony when he said that she was just like Briar, making Briar pout ("Harry you're my twin, you're supposed to be on my side").

"What are you going to name her?" Briar asked as Harry stroked his own sleeping owl.

"Hedwig" Harry replied "I read it in one of our books"

"Hedwig" Briar repeated, tasting the name before smiling approvingly "I like it. You know, but I always thought 'Briar' had a nice ring to it" she smirked.

"You're so full of yourself, Bambi" Harry laughed, shaking his head.

Briar grinned at the nickname. When he had first started calling her that she thought she would never get the smile of her face, it was only the people she was closest to that called her that, granted right now it was only her uncle Moony and Harry who knew she was an animagus, but the point stands.

Briar glanced at the clock and saw that Jupiter was at the top of the clock, perfectly in line with Pluto.

"Uncle Moony, can we go now?" Briar whined, excited to be going to the school she had been dreaming about since her dad told her about it when she was two years old.

Uncle Moony looked up from his paper and to the clock seeing that it was half past ten.

"Okay you two grab your trunks and I'll call a taxi" Uncle Moony told them.

They were getting to the station the muggle way since it was a full moon and Uncle Moony would have to stay home and rest, he had been taking a constant stream of pepper up potions so that Harry didn't notice that he looked ill.

Briar wasn't entirely sure what a 'taxi' was, but Harry told her it was a form of Muggle transportation, something along the lines of a big metal box with wheels. Muggles really were extraordinary, that was why she really couldn't understand why some purebloods hated them so much. They have made so many advancements without magic.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten and Harry paid the man driving them with some strange type of Muggle money which just looked like useless pieces of paper to her.

They struggled to get both their trunks on a cart, placing their owls' cages on top and Briar jumped to sit on top of the trunks too, allowing Harry to push her through the station. She attempted to freak out the muggles who were staring at them for having trunks and owls by grinning at them creepily and cackling when they turned away.

"Bambi" Harry laughed "Whatever you're doing, stop it, you're freaking out the muggles"

"That's the whole point, what's the point in getting stared at if you don't get entertainment out of it" Briar replied, shooting Harry a smirk over her shoulder.

Suddenly Harry stopped and Briar looked forward, they were facing Platform nine and ten, but there was no platform 9 ¾ in sight. She was sure the entrance must be magical, but Briar had no clue what it was. She wished she had thought to ask her uncle Moony, but thinking ahead was never her forte.

"Erm…do you know where the platform is?" Harry asked her anxiously.

"Well, yes and no." Briar said nervously turning to face Harry, who raised a brow "Mostly no. Really all no"

"So, I'm going to take that as a no?" Harry asked sarcastically and Briar nodded making Harry sigh and ask desperately "What are we going to do?"

"I don't-" Briar started, but then propped her head to the side, listening.

"Mum, why did we have to wear muggle clothes, it's not like they won't think we're weird because of the trunks and the owl" she heard a male voice moan.

"Quick, follow them" Briar told Harry, pointing to a red haired family where she was sure the boy's voice had come from.

Harry looked at her a second before nodding and did as she said.

"Bambi, why are we following them?" Harry asked as they caught up to the red haired family, following just a few steps behind them.

"Just listen" Briar hissed.

Briar listened and watched Harry tilt his head to the side as he did as well "-packed with muggles of course-"

The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like hers and Harry's in front of him and they had an owl. Harry grabbed the cart handle again and Briar stayed atop of the trunks so that she didn't have to walk. Harry pushed her, the owls and the trunks closer to the red-haired family. They stopped and so did Harry, just near enough so that they could hear what they were saying.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mum, can't I go..."

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Briar watched carefully as the boy began to run forward, he reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, but just as he was about to reach it, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

Briar looked around in confusion, had he gone somewhere and she just didn't notice?

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

Briar laughed so that only Harry could hear and said "He is so lying"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.

"Told you" Briar whispered to Harry smugly, who just rolled his eyes fondly.

His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone, but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier. He was almost there and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

"Excuse me," Harry said suddenly, to the plump woman, pushing his cart forward suddenly so that Briar had to grip the trunk to stop from falling off.

"Hello, dears," the woman said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Yes," Briar confirmed with her most charming smile, she saved that smile for adults and people she tried to impress to make them think she was just a sweet innocent girl, that way she wouldn't be blamed when there was trouble.

"The thing is…the thing is, we don't know how to…" Harry stuttered.

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry and Briar both nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Err…okay, hold on tight, Bambi" said Harry.

Briar closed her eyes, holding hard onto the trunk, getting ready for the crash. She felt the air whipping at her as Harry broke into a run. The crash should come any minute. She waited…and waited…but the crash didn't come. She opened her eyes and was met by a scarlet steam engine that was waiting next to a platform packed with people.

Briar sighed in relief clutching her chest.

"Glad to know you had faith in me" she heard Harry mumbled quietly, and she gave him cheeky grin, before hopping off of the cart to walk next to him.

Owls swooped overhead, so that you could hear low hooting below all the chatter. There were people saying goodbye to family members and hello to friends they haven't seen over the summer holidays. Cats made their way through the crowd weaving through people's legs, looking for owners.

Parked at the station was a scarlet steam train, which had '_Hogwarts Express_' wrote on the side in fancy gold writing. People were hanging out the windows, waving frantically and shouting across the platform, to people lost in the crowd.

The two of them made their way through the crowd trying to find an empty carriage. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed their cart off down the platform next to her as she looked through the doors for an empty compartment.

Harry and Briar passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again", "OH, Neville," she heard the old woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. "Give us a look, Lee, go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg. Briar looked over at them eagerly, and tried to make her way over to see what he had in the box, but Harry dragged her away from them, causing her to pout.

Finally they eventually found an empty compartment about halfway down the train.

Briar put Hedwig and Onyx inside first and then watched with an amused smile as Harry started to shove and heave their trunks toward the train door. He tried to lift one up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot. Briar tried hard not to laugh as he dropped the trunk on his foot for the third time.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins they'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry panted. "Someone" Harry added turning to glare at Briar and she gave him a faux innocent look "was supposed to help me, but she was too lazy"

"Excuse me?" Briar gasped in a mock offended tone "I am helping. I am supervising. Do you have any idea how hard it was not to laugh when you dropped one of the trunks on your foot? It is very tiring"

Harry rolled his eyes and looked back at the red haired boy, who cracked a grin and was staring at Briar in admiration and she gave him a smile, before the boy waved his twin over. With the twins' help, her and Harry's trunks were at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"What are your names?" One of the twins asked.

"I'm Briar and this is my little brother Harry" Briar said, putting an arm around the aforementioned twin.

"You're only older by seven minutes" Harry grumbled, Briar had been teasing him about her being older since Uncle Moony told her a week ago.

"Still older" Briar said in an annoying sing-song voice and then laughed as he shoved her away from him.

The twins looked at them with a smile and said "We're Fred and George" at the same time and made no indication which was which.

Briar tilted my head to the side, looking at them curiously "are you two related?"

The twins looked shocked for a second before giving her identical grins.

"Briar, my love-" One twin started.

"-I think this is a start of a beautiful friendship" the other twin finished.

Briar gave them a mischievous smile, and saw their grins widened when they saw the troublemaking glint that resided in her hazel eyes.

"Thanks for helping with the trunks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you-?"

"He is," said the first twin "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter," chorused the twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry and Briar looked at him amused, he does realise he's Harry Potter doesn't he? Harry blushed and added "I mean, yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him, and Briar saw that Harry was turning even redder. Then, much to Harry's relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum."

With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

Briar sat down in the compartment with Harry sitting next to her, where, half hidden, they could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.

"Mum - geroff" He wriggled free.

"Aaah has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins, Briar snorted in laughter, her and the twins are going to get along just fine.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now."

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Briar noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front; the prefects have got two compartments to themselves"

Briar raised a brow, he sounded like a bit of a prat. She would have to look out for him, if she tried to make mischief around him, he would definitely report her.

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once-"

"Or twice-"

"A minute-"

"All summer-"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect and Briar laughed quietly, those twin are so funny.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly, Briar wrinkled her nose, in her opinion being made prefect is the greatest shame. "All right, dear, well, have a good term; send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.

"Now, you two, this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've…you've blown up a toilet or…"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

Blowing up a toilet? Well that's a good one; Briar noted that down for a prank she needed to pull eventually, maybe she could even hang the toilet seats in the Slytherin common room once she found a way to weasel the password out of someone.

"Great idea though, thanks, Mum." One of the twins grinned.

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry; ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," said Ron again.

He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

"You know the black haired boy and girl who were near us in the station? Know who they are?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter and his sister!"

The little girl finally joined the conversation. "Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please..."

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."

"Poor dear. No wonder he was alone, I wondered; I heard he had a sister. They were ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother suddenly became very stern. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school"

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train.

They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mum."

The train began to move. Briar jiggled up and down in her seat; they were finally going at Hogwarts. She couldn't wait! The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat next to Briar. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. Briar noticed that the boy glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. She caught Harry's eyes and pressed her lips together resisting the urge to laugh. Harry seemed to hate attention and it seemed as though he was going to get nothing else at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Ron" The twins were back. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Really a tarantula?" Briar asked eagerly, she had never seen a tarantula, she had asked her Uncle Moony for one once but he said no.

"Yeah, you want to come?" one of the twins asked with a smile.

She looked towards Harry. Briar stuck out her bottom lip and looked up at him through her dark lashes, giving him my famous puppy dog face, the one she knew no one could say no to.

"Fine" Harry sighed.

"Thank you" Briar said brightly, before placing a kiss on his cheek "I'll see you in a bit, Harry" and followed the twins out of the compartment.

"So, who's who?" Briar asked looking at the twins curiously.

"I'm George" On twin said pointing to himself, "and that's Fred"

"So, I'm guessing your Fred and that's George" Briar said in amusement.

The second twin, George, looked at her shocked "How did you know?"

"Well, the pointing to yourself? Dead give-away" she smirked.

Briar looked at them closely trying to distinguish any differences. She noticed that Fred's eyes were a darker shade of blue and had less freckles across his nose. He also seemed to have a presence around him that George didn't, it was the air of a confident leader.

The three of them stopped at a compartment a couple of doors away from where Harry and Ron were.

"Hey Lee!" Fred and George greeted at the same time as they opened the compartment door to see a boy with dark skin, chocolate brown eyes and dreadlocks.

"Hey guys," Lee grinned "Who's this?" he added looking at Briar curiously.

"Briar Rose Potter" she told him with a grin.

"Potter? As in Harry Potter?" Lee asked with wide eyes and Briar nodded "Wicked. So what happened for you to be seen with these to idiots?" Lee asked with a smirk as Fred and George gave him mock offended looks.

"They told me they could show me a tarantula and well… I couldn't pass that up" Briar told him a grin.

"You mean you didn't hang out with us because of our dashing good looks?" Fred gasped.

"-Or our stunning personalities?" George added.

"Well…I suppose there is that" Briar replied as though it was an afterthought and she winked at them when they gave her faux affronted looks, she then turned back to Lee "So where's this tarantula?"

"Right here" Lee replied, opening the box she had seen him with earlier and scooping out the giant spider, he handed it to her and she felt its hairy legs tickle her skin as it crawled up her arm.

"What do you think would happen" Briar started , turning away from the spider to smirk at the three boys "if this little guy found his way into the girls' dorms?"

"Well I'm guessing there would be a lot of screaming-" George started.

"-And then a lot of running and commotion-" Fred continued.

"-And then maybe some more screaming and throwing things" Lee finished "Which would be…"

"Brilliant" Briar and the three boys said at the same time, with grins on their faces.

She continued to grin as she slumped down onto the seat next to Lee and the twins sat down opposite them. If their mischievous personalities were anything to go by, she was sure her and the three boys would get along well.

"So, what house are you three in?" she asked, looking at them questioningly, she could probably cross Slytherin off of the list right now as there was no way they could be in the house of the snakes.

"Gryffindor of course!" Lee replied, looking affronted that she even had to ask, making Briar smile.

"Well, I guess I'll see you soon then. I'm a Potter, there's no way I'm going to go anywhere other than Gryffindor" Briar replied confidently.

"Are you sure?" Fred asked in a faux worried voice.

"Yeah, she seems like a Slytherin to me" George agreed solemnly.

Briar narrowed her eyes at them.

"Ugh, don't even joke about that. I think I would die of shame if I got sorted with those slimy gits" Briar said with an exaggerated shudder, making the three boys grin.

She fell into silence and observed the three boys as they began to talk excitedly about their summers, trading chocolate frog cards and she laughed as Fred and George dramatically regaled stories of pranks they had pulled at family gatherings.

"-And then Aunt Muriel let out a screech like a banshee-" Fred was saying and Briar and Lee were laughing so hard that their ribs hurt and they had to lean on each other to stay upright.

"-And she start flinging hex after hex at Bill" George continued for his twin.

"And obviously you didn't point out that it was actually you two that did it" Lee commented, slightly breathless from laughing and Briar desperately tried to catch her breath and couldn't get the amused grin off of her face.

"Obviously" Fred and George agreed simultaneously, smirks on their faces.

"Are all your family wizards?" Briar asked curiously, and extended the question to Lee as well.

"Yep" Fred nodded. "The Weasley's are an old pureblood family"

"Almost as old as the Malfoys, but of course we're classed as blood traitors" George added, but the smile on his face told her that he didn't much care what his family was classed as.

"Well, I'm a Muggleborn. You should have seen my mum and dad's face when McGonagall showed up to tell them I was a wizard." He did an overly dramatic shocked face, and Briar laughed with him and the twins "Ah, good times. It was epic"

"It must be nice to have such a big family" Briar told the twins and was unable to keep the slight wistfulness from her voice.

If there was one things she wanted other than a new broomstick or to become an Auror when she grew up, it was to have a family. She loved her Uncle Moony, she really did. But the absence of Harry left a hole in her, she knew she had him back now, but she still had to grow up without him.

On holidays there were no relatives visiting, no family squabbles to amuse her, it was just her and Uncle Moony eating whatever he had ordered from Hogsmeade. She would have loved to have a family, her dad, Uncle Padfoot and Wormtail, her mum and Aunt Marlene and Dorcas. How different would things have been if it hadn't all gone so terribly wrong.

"Yeah, but it gets annoying" George told her.

Fred nodded in agreement "you never get anything new and most of the time the house it so full you can barely hear yourself think"

"That's the same with me. But at least your families magical, I have to sit there and pretend I went to a muggle boarding school and am studying Chemistry" Lee said.

Briar shared a bewildered look with Fred and George at the unknown subject.

"What's chemistry?" she asked.

"Exactly!" Lee exclaimed and she cracked a grin at that.

"So what about you?" Fred asked, looking at her curiously.

"Yeah, what was it like growing up with 'the boy who lived'" George asked, putting on a snotty voice at the reference to Harry to show he was joking and she laughed.

"Well, I didn't actually grow up with Harry, he was sent to live with our Muggle relatives. I don't know much about them, but according to Harry they're horrible. I was sent to live with My Godfather" Briar told them.

"Why didn't Harry go with you?" Lee asked.

"Beats me" Briar shrugged, shaking her head.

She secretly thought that perhaps it had something to do with her Uncle Moony being a werewolf. It was hard enough for him to get custody of her and the only reason he managed was because he was her god father, but Uncle Padfoot was Harry's and he was in Azkaban, so she guessed Aunt Petunia was the only other option for him.

Briar looked to the watch on her wrist and saw that mars was just nearing earth and decided that she should probably get back to her twin so she stood up.

"Well, I need to get back to my brother, but I will see you guys at Hogwarts" Briar said, before she left with one final smirk in their direction.

"You won't be. There are loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quickly enough." Briar heard Ron say as she got to their compartment.

"Yeah Harry, just look at our mum, Uncle Moony says she was the brightest witch in their year" Briar said as she entered and Harry and Ron both looked up quickly as she sat back down next to Ron.

The three of them talked about anything and everything. Ron told Briar more about his family, about pranks Fred and George had pulled on him, how his older brother Bill worked at Gringotts and Charlie worked with dragons, which sounded indescribably cool, and his dad who was obsessed with Muggle things. To be honest she couldn't blame Mr Weasley it was rather fascinating, when she got to third year she's going to take muggle studies.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time; something which bored Briar as she wasn't much for silence and ended up just watching the fields and lanes flick past. Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said,

"Anything off the cart, dears?" the woman asked.

Briar leapt to her feet, grabbing some money out of her pockets, eager to get some food, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry and Briar each grabbed a bit of everything, which included: Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands. Briar tipped my armful of sweets onto the seat next to her.

She immediately began to eat some Liquorice Wands.

"Hungry, are you?" Ron asked her as she finished a liquorice wand and began to eat a pumpkin pasty.

Briar mumbled an answer around the Pasty, but even she couldn't tell what she said so Harry replied for her with a laugh "Bambi's always hungry, she'd eat loads if you let her" and Briar nodded in agreement, smiling around her large mouthful.

Harry took a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside.

He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on"

"You don't want this; it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty, you can have some of mine too" Briar said kindly, gesturing to her pile of food, she felt rather bad for him as she never offered to share her food.

"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"

"Harry don't be stupid" Briar snorted, what did he think it was, a real frog dipped in chocolate sauce? "It's just chocolate with a spell on it; they only have one good jump in them"

"But remember to see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa" Ron added.

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know - Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect -famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Briar looked over Harry's shoulder as he unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa–thanks"

Harry turned over his card and read: _**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"He's done a lot" Briar commented making Harry jump slightly. "I stopped collecting them when I was eight, I accidently dropped a pack of exploding snap cards on them and they caught fire"

Briar leaned back in her seat and grabbed some more Liquorice Wands and watched as Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he turned the card back around.

"He's gone!" Harry exclaimed, gesturing to the card.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... Do you want it? You can start collecting."

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.

"Help yourself," Briar laughed, he seemed like someone close to her own heart when it came to food.

"You know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos." Harry told Ron

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed and Briar had to admit the thought of a photo not moving at all was strange. "Weird!"

"Don't they get bored?" Briar asked with a frown.

"Well…no, it's just a photo" Harry said and Briar shook her head, she didn't think she would ever understand muggles.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry as he picked up a box of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour, you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogie-flavoured one once." Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Bleaaargh - see? Sprouts"

The three of them had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, while Briar got chocolate, paprika, sugar, orange, fish, and dirt, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off of a funny grey one Ron or Harry wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry and Briar had passed on platform nine and three quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When They all shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," Briar said sympathetically, knowing how terrible she would feel if she lost Onyx, but then again she's an owl, so it would be pretty hard to lose her.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap. "He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway…" Ron had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again.

The toad-less boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said.

Her voice was bossy, as though she was older, but she looked to be a first year too. She had a mass of bushy brown hair, rather large front teeth and big brown eyes.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron rudely, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down next to Harry, opposite Briar.

Ron looked taken aback "Err…all right." He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Briar raised her eyebrows, and tried not to laugh as nothing happened. Scabbers was still grey and snoozing silently on his lap.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart; of course, I just hope it will be enough…I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast and Briars hazel eyes widened as she tried to keep up with what the girl was saying.

Harry and Ron looked horror struck that the girl, Hermione, had memorized the books. She seems extremely smart, as though she would like nothing more than to sit down, read a book and do her homework; she struck Briar as the Ravenclaw type. Briar may have read all the books, but she certainly didn't memorize them, and the only reason she did it was so that she wouldn't have to open her books too often.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Briar Rose Potter" Briar said with a smile.

"That's pretty; did you know it's from a fairy tale?" Hermione commented.

"Yeah, my mum was muggleborn and it used to be her favourite book, I think it's the only muggle book I ever read" Briar replied and Hermione nodded.

"Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself when Hermione turned to him.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course… I got a few extra books. For background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry looking shocked.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad...Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron darkly.

"Are you kidding?" Briar scoffed "I hope she is, and then you know who to copy homework off of"

Ron shrugged and threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell…George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What house are your brothers in?" Briar asked, curious about his brothers, who Briar thought she would become fast friends with.

"Gryffindor," said Ron, for some reason he looked sad about this "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin"

"That's the house Vol-, I mean; You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry.

Briar looked at him in surprise, was he crazy, Scabbers looks the same as he did before the spell. Harry gave me a meaningful look and my eye widened in realisation.

"Oh" Briar gasped, catching on "yeah definitely, maybe you'll be able to do it after learning a bit at school" she lied.

"So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry asked Ron.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles…someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Briar stared at him in surprise, that seemed like something her Uncle Moony would have told her, it was strange that he didn't, she really should start reading the daily prophet.

"Really? What happened to them?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Briar thought back to the poem on the silver doors back at Gringotts. How had they not gotten caught? Ron's dad must be right, they had to powerful to get past the enchantments it supposedly had and not to mention the dragons.

"What's your Quiditch team?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Holyhead Harpies" Briar said, eager to talk about her favourite topic.

"No, it's the Chudley Cannons all the way" Ron cheered.

"Oh yeah, they're so brilliant, that's why they've been at the bottom of the league for the past three years" Briar scoffed "They've only got one good player and that's the keeper, which doesn't help them score any points."

"Like the Holyhead Harpies are any better" Ron grumbled.

"They are, they have two great chasers, and a good seeker, they could do with some better beaters, but their keepers fair" Briar said firmly. "What position do you like to play? I've got a Nimbus 1700 back home, I'm a fair seeker, but I love playing chaser, I wanted to try out but first years aren't aloud, which is ridiculous if you ask me"

Ron was off, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers that Briar had only ever listened to on the radio and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry and Briar through the finer points of what he thought made the game so brilliant when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toad-less boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered, and Briar recognized the middle one at once: it was the Malfoy boy from Madame Malkin's. Briar looked at him curiously, for some reason he was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry.

Briar looked towards the boys on either side of him, they looked like bodyguards, both big and beefy. No doubt they're purebloods and future Slytherins, after all the Malfoy boy was a pureblood and wouldn't lower himself to talk to any less.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said Draco, noticing that they were all looking at the two 'bodyguards'. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Malfoy sneered, making Briar glare.

"Come now, Malfoy" Briar said darkly, not liking that he was insulting her new friend "don't need anyone seeing you talking to blood traitors and half-bloods."

"And who might you be?" Malfoy asked with a steely look.

"Briar Rose Potter, Harry's twin" Briar said, eyeing Malfoy as though he was a Flobberworm.

Malfoy looked at her for a few moments, studying her with cold grey eyes, before he turned back to Harry "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Malfoy held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it and Briar almost snorted at the looked of shock on Malfoy's face. He was so conceited.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly.

Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks, which pleased Briar greatly.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potters " he said slowly looking from Harry to Briar and back again. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasley's and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Briar sneered angrily, glaring at him, feeling her rage bubble up. How dare he talk about them like that? She knew for a fact that his mother was close to death eaters seeing as her sister Bellatrix Lestrange was one and he has the nerve to call the Weasley's the wrong sort?

Both Harry and Ron stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Draco sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry threateningly.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron. Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle.

Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said.

Briar looked down at all the food on the floor, why did it have to be the food? Briar lurched herself at the sweets and cried "not the food, Merlin not the food" dramatically.

"I think he's been knocked out," Briar heard Ron say to Harry as she grabbed the sweets that were in packets, shoved them in her pockets and stood up. Ron looked closer at Scabbers. "No - I don't believe it- he's gone back to sleep - "And so he had "You've met Malfoy before?"

Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly.

"I think everybody's heard about their family, bloody awful they are" Briar said darkly.

"They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side" Ron said and then turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!" Hermione cried, the way she said it made it seem like they had committed some horrendous crime.

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right…I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Ron glared at her as she left.

The three of them stumbled off of the train and a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Briar heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry, Briar?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. "C'mon, follow me…any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they all followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them, hopefully that meant there are a lot of trees meaning a lot of animals. Nobody spoke much, much to Briar's annoyance as she can't stand silence, she had half a mind to start singing 'Bless thee merry Hippogryffs' just to break it. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Harry, Ron and Briar were the only three in their boat.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.

Briar stared at the water, watching the ripples. The boat ride was so boring. Harry and Ron weren't even speaking.

"I'm bored" Briar moaned after a minute.

"Oh no, hold on to the boat" Harry warned Ron.

"What why?" Ron asked, but did as he was told.

"You can never be too careful around her when she's bored, especially when you see that expression" Harry explained.

Briar ignored Harry and stared up at the castle. This boat ride was taking forever, we have magic, why can't we make it go any faster? I could probably swim there faster than this. Briar smirked, and she was sure a mischievous look had appeared in her eyes as she had an idea. It was as though someone had lit a light bulb inside her head.

"How fast do you think I can swim there?" Briar asked them both eagerly, the smirk not leaving her face.

"Bambi, I really don't thin-" Harry started, but she ignored him again, she hopped out of the boat, gasping at the cold water and began to swim towards Hogwarts.

Briar glance behind me and she smiled smugly, she was right she could swim there faster than the boats. Briar clambered out of the water and up to two huge wooden doors, too impatient to wait for everyone else, and knocked, as she rung the water out of my hair.

The door opened and a strict looking woman stood there. Her dark hair was pulled back in a severe bun and she was dressed in emerald green robes, the same colour as Harry's eyes. Briar instantly knew the woman from her uncle Moony's stories, it was Professor McGonagall, the which my dad and Uncle Padfoot had nickname Minnie.

"Hagrid you're early-" she started, but stopped when she noticed Briar was the only one there and Briar gave her a cheeky grin.

"Hey Minnie, can I come in?" Briar smirked.


	4. The Sorting

Chapter three

_The sorting_

**Dorcas laughed at Lily, who had somehow managed to get covered in icing, it seemed that whenever she was baking the majority of it wound up on her. She then proceeded to give Lily an innocent smile, when she glared at her, and continued to help her finish spreading the icing on the cake.**

**She was at the Potter's for her Harry's and Briar's birthday. Her God daughter was currently laughing madly as Remus made bubbles come out of his wand and was popping them with her small fingers. **

**Next to Remus was Peter; however Dorcas noted with a frown that he didn't have his normal smile on his face. She wasn't that close to Peter or Remus like she was to Sirius and James since they were both with her best friends, but what she did know of Peter was that whenever she and Lily were baking he was usually trying to sneak some of the mixture.**

"**Are you okay, Peter?" Dorcas asked, making him jump and look around shiftily.**

"**Y-yes, Dorcas, I'm f-fine" Peter said, nodding hurriedly, Dorcas wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, and based on the concerned look on Remus' face she was leaning towards the latter.**

"**Finished" Lily said with a flourish and Dorcas turned to see that Lily had finished icing the cake while she was distracted.**

"**It's great" Remus said, handing Briar to Dorcas so that she had to rest their goddaughter on her hip, as he leant over to look at the cake "I wish Alice and Frank could be here, they always loved your baking"**

"**Yes" Lily said with a sad smile "I wish that too"**

"**Same here, I was around their house not long ago and they're both getting rather antsy with being stuck inside all the time, I suppose it's better for you and James as you can leave sometimes, it seems Frank's mother is too over protective to let them leave at all" Dorcas said, and Lily nodded with a frown.**

"**Where abouts are they hiding anyway?" Peter asked shiftily.**

"**Sorry Pete, but we can't tell you that, Mrs Longbottom made us promise not to, only Dorcas, Marlene and I, as well as a few of Frank's friends, were allowed to be told" Lily told him and he nodded.**

**Dorcas sat down next to Remus and Peter and smiled warmly as she tickled Briar until she was laughing so hard she had tears forming in her hazel eyes.**

**Just as Lily placed the cake on the table in the middle of them and began to arrange the candles, James entered. Dorcas eyes him curiously as he saw the nervous look on his face as he ran a hand through his already messy black hair.**

"**Urm…Lils, I may have a slight problem" James said cautiously, and Dorcas turned to see Lily narrowing her green eyes at her husband, but was distracted when Briar tugged on her blonde hair, demanding attention, so Dorcas conjured a toy train for her to play with.**

"**What?" Lily asked, pausing in placing the candles.**

"**I wrapped Harry in my invisibility cloak because I couldn't find his blanket and now I can't find him" James admitted.**

**Dorcas shared a look with Peter and Remus and the three of them rolled their eyes. James was a great dad, but it did seem things like this kept happening when he was left alone with the kids. Dorcas supposed it was because he and Sirius were both rather like kids themselves.**

"**But don't worry" James continued "the last time I saw him he was definitely in the living room"**

"**James!-" Lily started angrily, but stopped when the front door slammed, and a moment later Marlene and Sirius both entered.**

**James sighed in relief when he saw that Harry was in his godfather's arms.**

"**You found him" James said, and moved to take Harry off of his best friend.**

"**Found him? You mean you had lost him? Great parenting Prongs" Sirius chuckled, mussing James' hair up.**

**James smacked Sirius' hand away and tried to scowl, but Dorcas could see the grin breaking through.**

"**Shut up, Padfoot" James said "I knew he was in the living room somewhere"**

"**Yeah, imagine our surprise when we came in to see our god son's head floating in mid-air" Marlene laughed, moving to sit next to Peter. **

"**It wasn't my fault" James insisted, making Dorcas and Lily both roll their eyes.**

"**Oh, of course not" Peter said mockingly.**

"**How could wrapping him in the invisibility cloak possibly have been wrong?" Remus asked with a grin.**

"**You too? Moony, Wormtail, you're supposed to be on my side" James pouted.**

"**Face it Prongsie, you're outnumbered" Sirius laughed as he wrapped his arm around Marlene's shoulders, placing a kiss on her temple.**

"Ow, ow, ow" Briar complained as Minnie pulled her inside by the ear.

"How do you know that name?" Minnie asked sternly.

"My Uncle Moony told me about it" Briar muttered, rubbing her sore ear.

"Of course" Minnie muttered and then sighed, looking at Briar with her lips pressed together in a hard line "why are you all wet and here before everyone else?"

"I got bored" Briar replied with a shrug.

If it was possible, she thought Minnie's lips would have become even thinner, but she just stared at her sternly.

"Just like Sirius and James" Minnie whispered to herself, but Briar heard her and grinned,

Briar heard the doors open again, but Minnie seemed not to notice and she said sternly "In all my years at Hogwarts I have never known a student get into trouble before they had even been sorted, what could you possibly have been thinking?"

"To be fair Minnie" Briar started, and Minnie's eye narrowed at the name "Nowhere, anywhere, does it say to not swim in the lake so therefore you cannot possibly punish me for this" Briar finished with a smirk.

"Oh I think I can Miss Potter, not even your father could have managed this, detention with me tomorrow at seven and ten points from whatever house you're in" Professor McGonagall said and then with a swish of her wand Briar felt hot air get blown in her direction and she was dry again.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid suddenly.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." McGonagall said, giving Briar a stern glare, so she decided it best not to push her anymore and went to stand next to Harry with all the other first years.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Minnie said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking" Minnie glanced at her and Briar smirked in reply, "will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Minnie's eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Briar saw Harry try to nervously flatten his hair and she smiled in amusement as it just sprung back up in its usual mess.

Ahh, the curse of the Potter hair, he should just accept it like she has, Briar thought as she ruffled her hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Minnie. "Please wait quietly."

Briar looked around the room, everyone looked terrified, but then she supposed they didn't know what to expect. Briar only remembered it from her Uncle Moony telling her all about it and then reading it in Hogwarts: a history, it was dreadfully boring; she had fallen asleep almost instantly.

Briar walked over to a group of particularly frightened first year girls and said "You know how they sort us into houses? They make us fight a dragon; it's a good thing I remembered to memorize all the books"

"What?" A mousy brown haired girl gasped.

"Yeah, I heard that if you're too scared and refuse to do it, they snap your wand and send you home" Briar said in a faux glum voice, but then added cheerily "well, good luck"

When she turned back around, she smirked evilly as she heard her worrying with her friends.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Briar heard Harry ask Ron as she got closer.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron replied

Harry caught Briar's eye and she shot him a wink, indicating that there was no reason to be worried and she saw him sigh in relief.

No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. Briar listened carefully noting any spells that could be used in a prank later, but sadly most of the spells she mentioned were extraordinarily dull. Such as '_Lumos_' which lights the tip of your wand, she couldn't cause any trouble with that.

Briar jumped suddenly as several people let out screams and turned quickly.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.

What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance…"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost…I say, what are you all doing here?"

Her uncle Moony had told her about Peeves. He was a trouble making poltergeist that roamed the halls, according to him he took special delight in torturing first years and Filch. However, he had also said he was more lenient on fellow pranksters so hopefully she wouldn't get too much trouble from him.

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

"First years" Briar said with a broad smile.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

Briar nodded happily, giving him a grin.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Minnie had returned.

One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Minnie told the first years "and follow me."

Briar got in line behind a girl with strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes, with Harry behind her and Ron behind him, and they all walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

The great hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Minnie led all Briar and the other first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind us. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Minnie silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. Briar knew this was the sorting hat and she looked at eagerly, mentally begging it to put her in Gryffindor.

A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, _

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me. _

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_your top hats sleek and tall, _

_for I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat _

_And I can cap them all. _

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see, _

_so try me on and I will tell you _

_where you ought to be. _

_You might belong in Gryffindor, _

_Where dwell the brave at heart, _

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry _

_Set Gryffindors' apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_Where they are just and loyal, _

_Those patient Hufflepuff is are true _

_And unafraid of toil; _

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_if you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning, _

_Will always find their kind; _

_Or perhaps in Slytherin _

_You'll make your real friends, _

_Those cunning folk use any means _

_To achieve their ends. _

_So put me on! _

_Don't be afraid! _

_And don't get in a flap! _

_You're in safe hands (though I have none) _

_for I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Briar heard Ron whisper to Harry. "I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Briar laughed quietly. Why do people keep believing these sorts of things? They're only first years; they can't expect us to do anything dangerous.

Minnie now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

The girl with strawberry blonde hair, tied in pigtails, who was in front of Briar in the line, stumbled forward, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down.

A moment's pause "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table, the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender", the mousy haired girl Briar had told had to fight a dragon became the first new Gryffindor.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.

Briar wrinkled her nose, she couldn't imagine ever being in Slytherin, it didn't even cross her mind. She was a Gryffindor and that was that.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnegan, Seamus," sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool, causing me to snort with laughter, but I tried to smother it, feeling bad for the boy. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag"

Draco swaggered forward when his name was called and Briar rolled my eyes: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Even _I_ could have sorted him" Briar snorted quietly to Harry before pausing "I think I just insulted myself" and then Harry laughed causing her to pout.

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, "Potter, Briar"

As Briar stepped forward there were few whispers through the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

Briar walked forward confidently, revelling in the stares, she had always liked attention. As she sat down on the stool, looking out at the faces staring up at her, Minnie moved to place the hat on her head.

It barely brushed her unruly black hair when it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Briar smirked at her quick sorting and after removing the hat from her head she went over to the red and gold table, which was cheering loudly, and sat next to Hermione, opposite Fred and George.

"Nice to see you again, love" Fred and George said at the same time with a grin.

"Glad you got into Gryffindor, after all, it is the best house" Lee said and she smiled, Lee paused and looking down the table asked, "What's with her?"

Briar turned with the twins and saw the mousy haired brown first year, whose name was Lavender Brown glaring at her, so Briar smirked and waved cheerily, making her glare intensify.

"What did you do to her?" Fred asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she looked ready to curse you" George laughed.

"I may have told her that to get sorted you had to fight a dragon, but I don't see how I'm to blame for that. If she's stupid enough to believe it, then it's her own fault" Briar said, with a grin and the twins laughed.

"Potter, Harry!" Briar looked up intently, paying full attention.

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall, much more than when Minnie called her name ("The Harry Potter?").

Briar ignored them and watched as the hat dropped over her twin's eyes. Harry looked extremely nervous, his face paler than it usually was.

The hat was on his head for a couple of seconds, when Briar noticed Harry mumbling something. Briar strained her hearing, but she couldn't hear what he was saying as people were still whispering about the 'famous Harry Potter'.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted suddenly.

Briar cheered loudly as Harry made his way towards their table and shouted "We got Potter! We got Potter!" with the twins.

Harry sat down in between on the other side of me, next to Percy, opposite the ghost in the ruff we had seen earlier.

Now there were only three people left to be sorted and Briar was extremely thankful as she rubbed my stomach, glaring down at the empty plates willing them to be filled with food. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined them at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Briar clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair opposite Harry, next to the ghost.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley Pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.

Minnie rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat and stool away.

"Welcome," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. First I would like to congratulate Miss Potter on getting the earliest detention in Hogwarts history" He said, Briar grinned, stood up and bowed, revelling in all the attention, as the Gryffindor table laughed, none louder than the Fred and George, who immediately congratulated her "I now only have a few more words to say and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down.

Briar clapped loudly with the rest of the table and eagerly began to pile food onto her plate.

"So what did you do to earn the earliest detention in Hogwarts history?" Fred asked her eagerly as he put food onto his own plate.

"I got bored on the boats" Briar shrugged "Did you know, I can swim faster than them?" she asked innocently and the twins began to laugh.

Briar began to shovel food into my mouth as quick as possible, the twins doing the same opposite me.

"So, you got any pranks planned?" She asked the twins as she swallowed a large mouthful of carrots.

"Not really, but I'm sure-" George started.

"-We will think of something" Fred finished, a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Well, I can't wait, I haven't got any planned either, but I'm positive it won't take long for inspiration to strike" she smirked. "I already know I want to sneak into Filch's office, I want to beat my dad and Uncle in the most detentions in first year"

"I know who you are!" Briar heard Ron exclaim suddenly, causing her to look up, he was looking at the ghost in the ruff "My brothers told me about you…you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy…" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Briar wrinkled her nose and turned to Hermione.

"So 'Mione, I suppose you're pleased you got into Gryffindor" Briar said happily.

"Of course" She said smiling and then added "'Mione?"

"Yeah, friends give each other nicknames right?" She asked and Hermione grinned happily, giving Briar a quick hug before turning to talk to Percy about classes.

Briar looked towards the Slytherin tables and was happy to see that Malfoy looked extremely uncomfortable while sitting next to the Bloody Baron who was a fierce looking ghost covered in silvery blood.

Briar eyed the Slytherin's, who she swore all had a distinctly sinister look about them, before smirking evilly and turning to the twins.

"We should pull a prank on the Slytherins" Briar said eagerly.

The nodded "A very good idea" George nodded.

"Indeed" Fred said solemnly and Briar giggled "But what?"

"What about something to do with the common room? That way it can affect all of them" Briar put in.

"We should fill the common room with juice" Fred suggested,

"No it should be goo, that way it will be harder for them to clean" George replied.

"We should put a trip jinx on the bottom of the stairs so they fall in as soon as they wake up" Briar added.

"Perfect" Fred and George said at the same time with identical grins.

"Ouch!" Harry exclaimed suddenly and Briar turned to him worriedly as he clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"N-nothing" Harry said, but Briar continued to look at him suspiciously, his voice had risen slightly, he was lying.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry suddenly asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's the Potions master, obviously he teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts; his names Severus Snape"

Briar burst out laughing as soon as she heard his name, it was so ridiculous.

"What did you say his name was, Snivillus?" Briar sputtered, causing Harry to laugh as well.

Once the desserts disappeared, much to Briar's disappointment, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem…just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered: As Headmaster, I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." Dumbledore started.

"Wait. Dumbledore's headmaster?" Briar gasped in faux shock "I thought he was the caretaker"

Lee snickered, but Fred and George regarded her with fake serious expressions.

"Yes, easy mistake to make really" Fred nodded solemnly.

"Him and filch are eerily alike" George nodded in agreement.

A brown haired boy with dark eyes turned to look at them with raised brows. He looked to be a second year.

"Are you mad?" the random second year asked the three of them with a baffled expression as Lee laughed.

Fred and George looked at him with faux affronted expression.

"No" Briar said and glared at him in a way that said he himself was mad for even suggesting it, which only made Lee laugh more as the second year turned away with a shocked expression.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore continued and his twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins and they smiled innocently.

Briar grinned. She sure as hell had no intention of staying away from the forest, hopefully she would be able to sneak in one day in her animagus form.

"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Dumbledore finished.

"I'm so annoyed that you have to be a second year to try out of Quidditch" Briar moaned to the twins and Lee, pouting slightly.

"Well, Alicia said she might be quitting next year since her parents are getting on at her to do better in lessons" Lee told her.

"What position does she play?" Briar asked curiously.

"Chaser" Fred and George said simultaneously.

Briar brightened instantly a smile coming to her face. That meant she would be able to try out for the spot next year and she was sure to get it, she was a brilliant chaser if she said so herself, she was a good seeker also, but chaser's were right in the middle of the action and always had something to do.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which raised high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed: _"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff, For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot."_

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were the only ones left singing as they were using a very slow funeral march tune. Briar and Lee swayed in time with them and pretended to look as though they were mourning and Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

All the Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Briar groaned as they continued up the stairs, how much longer will they have to walk?

Suddenly they stopped and Briar smiled in relief, but then pouted as she realised we weren't at the Gryffindor common room yet. A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him and Briar smothered my laughter behind my hand

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves…show yourself"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" Percy threatened.

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them and Briar ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

Briar raised a disbelieving brow. He was a little full of himself wasn't he? Scratch that, forget the little. According to her uncle Moony Peeves barely listened to the teachers half of the time, why would he listen to him just because he was a prefect, if she was Peeves that would give her more of reason not to listen to him.

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said in a posh accent.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.

They all scrambled through it, Neville needed a leg up, and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to our dormitory and the boys through another; Briar quickly gave Harry a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she followed 'Mione up to the Girls dorms.

At the top of a spiral staircase, they were obviously in one of the towers; they found their beds at last: four four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. When 'Mione and Briar entered, Parvati Patil, was already changed into her Pyjamas and was getting into bed, Lavender on the other hand was pulling her things out of her trunk. When she saw Briar she huffed and stormed off to the bathroom to get changed.

She looked towards Hermione who just shrugged in response, looking bewildered at Lavender's actions.

As soon as Briar had pulled on her green sleep shorts and a faded oversized Holyhead Harpies' top that she always slept in, she hopped down onto Hermione's bed.

"So, 'Mione, what's it like growing up with muggles?" Briar asked, eager to know more about the girl seeing as she was muggleborn, she didn't have much experience with muggle culture, her uncle Moony tried to teach her some things since he was a half-blood with a muggle parent but she didn't retain any of it.

"Normal. I don't really think anything of it, I went to primary school like everyone else, watched TV, read books" Hermione shrugged, but her brown eyes seemed alight that someone was interested in getting to know her.

"Oooh, my Uncle Moony told me about TV's, televishuns right?" Briar said eagerly "they're like pictures but with sound"

"Yeah" Hermione nodded with an amused smile "and it's televisions"

Briar waved her hand, dismissing the correction "so what about your parents, what do they do?"

"My parents are dentists" Hermione said.

Briar's brows furrowed in confusion. Dentist? What a weird words, that was a job? She shook her head, having no idea what it was.

"What's a dentist?" she asked.

"Oh, well they basically fix your teeth" Hermione explained.

Briar frowned. That was a job? Why would you want to just go looking around in people's mouths for a living? Muggles were weird.

"So like a healer?" she questioned, still slightly confused.

Hermione nodded slowly "I suppose" she said. "What about your parents?"

The look on Briar's face froze. Whenever any mentioned anything that her, her face would just go blank, not wanting people to see that it hurt, she didn't want people to see her vulnerable, she supposed it was a side effect by being raised by a man, and one that was so used to being secretive at that.

Hermione's eyes widened in shock and she seemed to remember what she had read about her brother and what had happened to their parents.

"Oh, Briar, I – I didn't-" she stuttered apologetically, but Briar just waved her off, giving her a small smile.

"No, it's fine. From what my uncle Moony told me, I'm pretty sure my mum had gotten a job at Hogwarts as the potions mistress before she had to go into hiding and my dad was an Auror. He trained under Alastor Moody himself" Briar said proudly "I'm going to be an Auror when I grow up"

"Oh, I read about Aurors" Hermione said excitedly "they're like police men, dark wizard catchers. It sounds fascinating, but it takes a lot of training and extremely high marks"

Briar nodded, she had known that, but she was determined, she would be an Auror. Not only did she want to follow in her dad's footsteps, making him proud so to speak, but she wanted to make a difference. However, if she was being true to herself she also knew that a small part of her wanted to be an Auror for vengeance, to catch those who supported Voldemort, supported the wizard who had destroyed so much, including her parents, godmother and Aunt Marlene.

Briar stifled a yawn, but she noticed that Hermione's eyes were drooping too, so she bid her goodnight and sluggishly went over to her own bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and making a mental note to write to her uncle Moony in the morning.


	5. School

Chapter Four

_School_

**"I was thinking that, since we are having a girl and a boy, you can name him and I'll name her"**

**"So I can call him whatever I want?" James asked, his face brightening with the prospect.**

**"Within reason" Lily added quickly at the look on his face "I don't want our child named something ridiculous like…Alberto, or…Elvandork"**

**When she said that last name was off limits James' face fell comically. **

**"Oh, James, no, you cannot have been serious" Lily said, scrubbing a hand across her face.**

**"What do you mean?" James asked, seemingly affronted "Elvandork is a great name, it's unisex, unisex Lily, what could be better? Being able to go up to someone and say 'Hello, my name is Elvandork James Potter', how brilliant!"**

**"No, James"**

**"Fine" he pouted before his eyes lit up again "What about-"**

**"And you're not naming him Sirius" Lily cut in, already knowing what he was going to ask.**

**"Why not?" James whined.**

**"Sirius James Potter?" Lily raised her brows challengingly "Merlin only know what kind of pranking monster that child will end up being. I think McGonagall would have a conniption"**

**James snickered. **

Hogwarts was just as brilliant as Briar always thought it would be. There was magic everywhere, even more than when she was at home.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them inexactly the right place and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.

It was hard to find her way around, but she could always ask the portraits on the walls, it was surprising none of the other first years had thought of it, instead getting lost.

She had managed to organize as truce with Peeves and was therefore able to avoid getting wastepaper baskets getting dropped on her head, rugs pulled from under her feet, and the most amusing of all of them when it happened to other people, is when he would sneak up behind the other first years, invisible, and screech "GOT YOUR CONK!" it was even funnier when it happened to a Slytherin.

One of the things that Harry and other students seemed to hate was the caretaker, Argus Filch. However, Briar actually found him…well, not pleasant, but he was good to torment. She had already turned him and his awful cat, Mrs Norris, blue and gotten detention, and set off some dungbombs in his office with the help of Peeves. She had yet to steal her father's and uncle Padfoot's detention records from his office, but she was definitely going to eventually.

She even found the classes entertaining, but she figured it wouldn't be too long until the novelty of first being at school wears off and she starts to hate them.

Every Wednesday at midnight they had to study the night skies through their telescopes and learn the different stars and the movements of the planets. So far the only star she could remember was the brightest on, Sirius the dog star, as it had the same name as her Uncle Padfoot and his animagus form.

Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Briar had discovered that unlike all the other subjects Herbology didn't come easy to her, but who cares whether she could keep plants alive or not, she had plenty of other talents. She had managed to get detention in Herbology when she and her fellow Gryffindors, Dean and Seamus, were fighting over a worm and it had flown out their hands and landed on the professor's head.

The most boring class was history of magic, instead of listening to droning ghost of professor Binns, Bria spent her time either planning pranks on her parchment, making up Quidditch moves or sleeping. To do her homework she instead just did it from her school book, or copied off of Hermione when she wasn't paying attention.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. Much to Briar's amusement, at the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. She enjoyed charms there were so many that could be used for pranking and she knew she needed to do well in it as well as most other things to become an Auror once she leaves school.

Easily her favourite class was transfiguration. She loved the idea of being able to turn something into something else and it helped that it came so easy to her, even if she did lose a point from Gryffindor every time she called professor McGonagall 'Minnie'.

Strict and clever, Minnie gave the class a talking-to the moment they sat down.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts" she had said "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned" then she changed her desk into a pig and back again.

Briar couldn't wait to get started into turning things into animals, just as she shifted into her animagus form. However, much to her disappointment it turned out they weren't going to be turning the furniture into animals for a long time, but she knew she was going to try it sooner anyway.

After copying off Harry's complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. Briar had managed to change his perfectly by half way through the lesson and got a rare smile from Minnie, although she noticed it was rather sad for some reason, and she got given fifteen points for Gryffindor which made up for all the points she had lost.

The fact that she had managed to do it so quickly without even taking her own notes seemed to aggravate 'Mione and she tried even harder, and by the end of the lesson she was the second person to change her match, only she had only made it pointy and shiny. She got more points for Gryffindor anyway.

She tried to tell Hermione that the reason she hadn't managed to do it was because she was only picturing the match looking like a needle, not turning into one all the way through. However that seemed to annoy Hermione more so she decided it would be better for their friendship if she didn't criticize Hermione's studies.

It seemed that everyone other than Briar was looking forward to was Defence Against the Dark Arts. It wasn't as though she didn't like the subject, on the contrary, after Transfiguration it was her favourite, but she didn't really look forward to spending time in the same classroom as the stuttering professor Quirrell.

Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days.

His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and when she asked Fred and George about it, they insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

Speaking of the twins, Briar had been spending a lot more time with Hermione her brother since they were in her year, but it seemed everywhere she went the Weasley twins would be there, smirking and saying "Hi Briar"

Case in point, on Thursday she was on her way to Transfiguration and she was rounding the corner pas the history of magic classroom when she almost knocked into the twins, who were leaning against the wall in identical positions of arms crossed, smirk on their faces and amusement swimming in their blue eyes.

"Hi Briar" The twins greeted simultaneously.

"Seriously? How are you here?" Briar asked, folding her arms across her chest, feeling slightly annoyed that they had managed to make her jump.

"That our friend, is for us to know-" Fred started.

"-and you to find out" George finished.

Briar chuckled and rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand how they could be everywhere she went, the only thing she knew that would allow them to do that was the map her dad, uncle Moony, uncle Padfoot and Uncle Wormtail made.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think you had the-" she broke off.

Suddenly she glanced down at the seemingly blank piece of parchment that she only just realise was clasped in George's hand. Now that she thought about it, they almost always had it with them. She couldn't understand how she hadn't thought of it before.

"Had the what?" Fred asked in amusement, clearly not expecting her to know about the map.

She narrowed her eyes at the twins.

"You have the marauder's map don't you?" Briar asked.

She couldn't help but smirk when they looked at her with wide eyed shock.

"How do you know about the map?" George questioned in surprise.

"Know about the map? Please, I know the people who made it" Briar said.

"You know Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Fred asked, both twins looking at her in awe.

"Well, yeah, you've heard me talking about my uncle Moony" she told them and Fred and George looked as though that hard only just dawned on them "my dad was prongs. My uncle Wormtail's dead and my Uncle Padfoot is in Azkaban"

"She knows the marauders" George breathed.

"She lives with a marauder" Fred piled on.

"She's the daughter of a marauder" George finished and Briar laughed.

"Can I see it?" Briar asked excitedly, she had heard so many stories about how the marauders sneaked out and pulled pranks, all with the help of the marauder's map, but she had never actually seen it.

Fred and George shared a glance before they shrugged and gave her the map.

Briar pulled out her wand and placed the tip onto the blank parchment and said "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good"

Almost immediately ink began to swirl around the parchment where her wand had touched. There was a doodle of the Whomping Willow that she knew her Uncle Moony had done and writing in her Uncle Padfoot's best pureblood script that said 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the marauder's map'.

she opened it up to reveal a map of the whole of Hogwarts.

She could see the names Briar Rose Potter, Fredrick Weasley and George Weasley, in the corridor where they were standing. Hermione was already outside the transfiguration classroom, Harry and Ron were lost somewhere on the third floor and she could see Hagrid lumbering about the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

She smiled fondly and gently ran her finders over her dad's nickname before tapping her wand on the parchment saying "mischief managed" and the parchment slowly began to turn blank again.

_To Uncle Moony,_

_I got into Gryffindor just like I said I would. I've had three detentions so far. One from Minnie, which by the way was the earliest detention in Hogwarts history, so you should be proud. I got another one from Filch, and one from Professor Sprout._

_I've gotten to know Harry more, and I made four friends, well I get along with everyone in Gryffindor, but I wouldn't consider them my friends. The first is Hermione Granger. She's really smart, but she doesn't like that I get the same marks, if not better, without studying. She reminds me a bit of you to be honest with her reading habits, but she doesn't have the mischievous streak you do. _

_There's so Lee Jordon from third year, he's funny and he hangs around with the Weasley twins. Apparently he commentates the Quidditch matches, I can't wait until Quidditch season starts, how can Minnie expect him to be unbiased? He's a Gryffindor after all. _

_Then there is Fred and George Weasley. They're twins and they're in third year and they're pranksters too. I would probably say they are my best friends. Oh and you will never guess what the twins have. The Marauder's map! Can you believe it?! Apparently they nicked it from filch in their second year. What happened to the second map? Do you have it?_

_Harry's best friend is their younger brother Ron in our year, I'm friends with him but I don't hang out with him too much._

_Hogwarts is brilliant so far. Transfiguration is my favourite subject and Minnie is definitely my favourite lesson, I keep losing points for calling her that but I quickly make them back. I absolutely stink at Herbology but I'm doing great in everything else, obviously. _

_I'm planning on pulling a prank on the Slytherins tomorrow on Friday, I will tell you how it went. I'm still bummed about not being able to play Quidditch, I think I'm going through flying withdrawal._

_How's everything going at home and with the book store? You're eating properly aren't you? Do you want me to send some food home from the kitchens?_

_I will see you at Christmas._

_Love, Bambi xx_

It took her a while to find the owlrey on Thursday night. Once she did she stuck out her arm and whistled for Onyx who flew down to perch her arm and hooted softly when she stroked her black feathers.

"Take this to uncle Moony" Briar told her, ending Onyx the letter to clasp in her beak.

However, Onyx didn't fly off and just looked at her with expectant blue eyes and she didn't go off to send the letter until Briar gave in and gave her an owl treat.

On Friday she was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Fred and George. Sadly, today the Gryffindor first years had double potions with the Slytherins. Despite the fact that she had to be in close proximity to the slimy gits, she was looking forward the Potions as she knew that it was her mum's favourite subject when she was at school and she was hoping she would be just as good at it. However, she always had a good idea that Snivillus wasn't going to like her as according to her uncle Moony he was the victim of many of the marauder's pranks back in the day, especially her father's and uncle Padfoot's.

"So, what have you got today?" Briar asked the twins as she ate some scrambled eggs.

"Muggle studies" Fred and George told her simultaneously around mouthfuls of toast.

"Who in their right mind would put you two in a class together?" Briar snorted in amusement.

Lee laughed, spitting out his pumpkin juice on Katie Bell, a third year who was sitting opposite him. Katie groaned in disgust and quickly stood up to leave, making Briar laugh when Lee hastily shouted an apology after her that sounded anything but sincere.

"Oh please, we'll have you know that we are very mature in our lessons" George scoffed.

"Absolutely, our studies are very important" Fred said, looking at Briar as though he was offended at the very suggestion he and George would cause trouble.

Briar and Lee shared an amused look before they both turned and raised their brows challengingly.

The twins met their gazes head on for a moment before they sighed.

"Fine" Fred said.

"They had to split us up" George explained and Briar and Lee laughed.

There was suddenly a high pitched sound of a screech owl and Briar looked up to see hundreds of owls flooding into the great hall to deliver mail. She quickly spotted Onyx since there were not that many black owls.

Onyx swooped down and landed gently on the table next to her. She pulled off the two letters that were tied to her leg as she began to peck at Briar's breakfast.

Briar jumped when she heard a crash and she looked up to see that a brown and black owl had crashed into the table, spraying Lee with milk from his cereal. She couldn't help but laugh, thinking it was probably karma for spitting juice out on Bell.

"Ugh, Errol" Fred moaned, pulling the letter from the old bird's leg.

Errol, hopped wearily to her feet, and hooted meekly before taking off again, not staying for food like Onyx.

Fred opened the letter to hold between he and George and they moaned in annoyance.

"What?" Lee asked, still trying to get milk out of his dread locks, Briar couldn't understand why he didn't just Scourgify it clean, but she decided it was more amusing to watch him trying to clean with napkins.

"Apparently mum didn't appreciate us send Ginny a toilet seat" Fred sighed.

"No, really? How could she possibly not like that?" Briar gasped in faux shock.

"I know, right" George agreed with a grin, pretending not to notice her sarcasm.

Briar laughed and ruffled her hair before she opened up the first letter that she noticed was from her Uncle Moony due to the name 'Bambi' written across the front.

_To Bambi,_

_That great's great, I never doubted you. _

_I know I should probably scold you on getting detention like your mum would expect me to, but I am a marauder, so well done, your father would be proud. _

_I'm glad to hear you're getting along with Harry and that you've made friends, hopefully I can meet them one day. Hermione sounds like she will keep you out of trouble, although I suspect not all the time, I dare say I failed dismally at doing that for Padfoot and Prongs. _

_Well done for doing well in school, and I suppose Herbology won't be too useful for you in the future anyway, but that doesn't mean I expect you not to try. _

_I would love to hear what happens with the prank, but don't use that as an excuse with Minerva, goodness knows I already got a letter scolding me for telling you about the name 'Minnie'. _

_Everything is going well at the bookstore, except I am getting weird looks from the other employees and some of the customers. And yes I'm eating fine you don't have to send food, Tom at the Leaky Cauldron has been selling me good meals, Merlin knows I can't cook my own. _

_It's good to know that the map has found itself in a prankster's hands, I and the others had planned for that to happen, and yes, I'm pretty sure I do have the other map in with my old Hogwarts stuff somewhere._

_Do well in your lesson, and I know you won't stay out of trouble, but don't do anything to bad. _

_Love, Moony_

Briar smiled at the letter from Uncle Moony, but felt slightly homesick after hearing from him. However, she scowled slight at the fact that he was getting weird looks for being a werewolf, if he is still working there when she goes home for Christmas, that store is getting seriously pranked.

She opened up the other letter to see that it was from Hagrid.

_Dear Briar, _

_I know you get Friday afternoon's off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week._

_Send us an answer with Onyx._

_Hagrid._

Briar grinned happily at the invitation and pulled out a quill before reaching a hand into Lee's robes ("Hey!") to pull out the parchment she knew was in there.

She quickly wrote:

_To Hagrid,_

_I would love to. I'll even bring some meet from the kitchens for fang._

_Briar_

She quickly handed Onyx the letter and after the owl took another nibble of her toast and a sip of her pumpkin juice she took off to give Hagrid the letter.

Glancing down the table, she noticed Harry sending Hedwig on her way too.

She said a quick goodbye to Fred, George and Lee and went to sit further down the table opposite Harry and Ron.

"What's with the pleased expression?" Briar asked as she saw the smile on her twin's face.

"We actually managed to get down here without getting lost once" Harry explained with a smile.

Briar chuckled.

"Did Hagrid invite you to tea as well?" she asked, but it was Ron who replied.

"Yeah, I'm going too" he told her before adding "what have we got today?" as harry poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double potions with the Slytherins she replied and grabbed a piece of toast from Ron's plate when he wasn't looking, she had already eaten her breakfast but you can never have enough food.

"Snape's head of Slytherin house" Ron said and it took Briar a second to remember that by Snape Ron meant Snivillus "They say he always favours them…we'll be able to see if it's true"

"Wish McGonagall favoured us" Harry said and Briar mumbled her agreement around a bite of toast.

Minnie wasn't just the transfiguration teacher by also head of Gryffindor house, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework yesterday. Briar had already finished it after stealing Hermione's from her trunk last night, but luckily 'Mione wouldn't notice since she changed the wording and put it straight back.

Briar was actually almost certain Hermione suspected she copied off of her, but she didn't say anything since Briar was her only friend. Because of that fat Hermione spent almost all her time in the library and she didn't particularly want to spend time in there so it was only in the common room, dorms and classes that she tends to talk to 'Mione.

Potions class was held down in the dungeons and the room was even darker than usual due to the fact that Snivillus didn't seem to think colours other than green, black and grey belonged in a classroom. It was colder in his classroom compared to the rest of classroom and Briar could decide if it was because it was below the lake or because of the creepy atmosphere caused by the pickled animals floating in glass jars. Briar shivered when she notices a deer's hoof in one and unconsciously rubbed her leg.

During roll call, Snivillus paused at Briar name and sneered at her causing her to raise her brows at Harry, since she was sitting between him and Hermione, and he just shrugged in response. Much like Flitwick, he also paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes" he said softly "Harry Potter, our new…celebrity"

Draco Malfoy and his 'friends' Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands and Briar glared at them for daring to laugh at a Potter.

Snivillus finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, like Minnie, Snivillus had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Briar turned to look at Hermione with raised brows but found that she wasn't looking, instead she was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

Briar rolled her eyes at 'Mione's actions. She suspected it was because she was a Muggleborn and wanted to prove that she was just as good as the people with a more magical bloodline. She really couldn't understand how she could want to impress Snivillus already.

she was starting to get why her dad and Uncle Padfoot would torment him so much. With his sneering face, hooked nose, cold attitude and greasy hair, Briar could easily imagine how lame he must have been as a child and he had Slytherin written all over him.

"Potter!" Snape said suddenly making Briar's head snap up, but she found that he was looking at Harry "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Briar glanced at Harry and saw that he was looking in bewilderment at Ron and on her other side Hermione's hand had shot into the air. She knew the answer to that, it was a sleeping potion so strong that you weren't likely to wake up, but she had read that in one of the more advanced books that her Uncle Moony owned, so why would he ask a first year that question?

She eyed Harry willing him to look at her and a second later he did, so she discretely mouthed 'sleeping potion'

"Sleeping Potion" Harry said and Snivillus' lips curled into a sneer, clearly not having expected Harry to answer and Briar could feel her dislike mounting for the greasy git with each second.

"Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Snivillus said, questioning Harry yet again.

Briar rolled her eyes at Hermione as she stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go before mouthing 'Goat's stomach' to Harry. It was one of the many ingredients to the healing potions that she often had to administer to her Uncle Moony after the full moon, as even with the Wolfsbane potion, the instincts of the wolf still remained so occasionally he did scratch himself up a little.

"The stomach of a goat sir" Harry answered politely.

Snivillus gave another sneer before rounding on Briar.

"Helping your brother cheat, Potter?" he tutted "what is the different, Potter, between monkshood and Wolfsbane?" Snivillus snapped at her.

Briar raised a dark brow, he really should have known better than to give that question to someone who grew up with a werewolf.

"They're the same thing" Briar replied smugly, and her smirk and twinkling hazel eyes seemed to infuriate Snivillus even more.

"Five points from Gryffindor for helping Mr Potter" Snivillus said.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have had to help if you hadn't picked on him, clearly Hermione knew the answer, so why didn't you ask her?" Briar said coldly, not liking that he had taken points off of her after trying to humiliate her twin.

"Five more points from Gryffindor for your cheek"

"Whatever" Briar said, leaning back in her chair and after a pause her lips turned up into another smirk and she added "Snivillus"

As soon as he heard that name Snivillus' eyes flashed with rage and his fingers twitched almost as though he longed for nothing more than to grab his wand and curse her in the middle of the classroom.

"Detention, Potter!" Snivillus shouted and moved to the front of the classroom, his black cloak sweeping like a bat as he did.

As the potion lesson continued more and more points were taken from Gryffindor and more and more praises to Slytherin. Briar discovered that she actually did like potions and she was making the boil curing potion with Hermione rather well, she even found that I'd you added more dried nettles it became more potent. Snivillus scowled as he swept past the two of them in his long black cloak clearly wanting to criticize them, but was unable to find a fault.

The only person in the whole class who Snivillus seemed to like was Malfoy, and Briar decided it wasn't at all surprising in the short time they had been at Hogwarts he was already starting to be known as 'the prince of Slytherin'.

He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes.

Within seconds, Briar had hopped up onto her stool along with everyone else, trying hard not to come into contact with it. Sadly, Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snivillus, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snivillus spat at Seamus.

He then rounded on Harry and Ron since they were working directly in front of Neville "You two, Potter, Weasley, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills, though he'd make you look good if he got it wrong? That's another point from Gryffindor"

Briar glared at Snivillus angrily, a Gryffindor student get s hurt on his watch so he blames Harry and Ron? The stupid greasy git!

"Actually, Snivillus, they were busy doing their own potion, just like everyone else" Briar snapped, her hazel eyes flashing.

"Another detention, Potter" Snape sneered, and Briar scowled angrily at him.

Briar didn't much care about detention, but the fact that it came from Snivillus felt like it was a wound to her pride somehow.

After Potions Briar went straight to the common room and made her way to the third year boys dorm to flop onto George's bed, ignoring the twins surprised looks at her being in there.

"Stupid Snivillus" She moaned as she propped herself up on her eyebrows.

"Snivillus?" Fred and George laughed at the name.

"Yes, we just lost eleven points and I got two detentions for nothing" Briar explained.

Fred and George shared an amused glance and Briar sat up and narrowed her eyes at them.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"You got detention-?" George started.

"-For doing nothing?" Fred finished doubtfully.

"Fine, so I may have talked back and called him Snivillus" Briar sighed and the twins laughed.

Briar lay back down on the bed and winced when she felt something dig into her back. She sat back up and pulled the weird object from the bed covers beneath her with a frown. It was a white cube with three metal things sticking up from it and a plastic wire sticking from it.

"What in Merlin's name is this?" Briar frowned tilting it in different angles as though it would make sense to her then, but it just continued to look like nothing.

"It's called a plug" George said, taking it off of her.

"And what's a plug?" I asked in confusion.

Fred shrugged "Something to do with elekticity. We're supposed to be writing an essay on it"

"We're planning on getting Lee to do it later since he's muggleborn" George added making Briar laugh.

"Anyway, have you got the stuff we need for the prank tonight?" Briar asked them.

"Yep" Fred nodded.

George went over to the corner of the room and pulled out a cauldron and Briar hopped to her feet to look inside and gooey green substance inside of it.

"Brilliant" Briar grinned "The Slytherins will never know what happened to them."

At five to three Briar was making her way across the grounds with Harry and Ron to go to Hagrid's small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the door.

Briar craned her neck as Harry knocked on the door, trying to spot anything interesting in the forest, and was slightly put out when she didn't.

Hagrid's voice suddenly ranged out from the frantic scrabbling inside the house and the booming barks that she recognised as Fang "Back, Fang – Back!"

Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on. Back, Fang" he said again as he shoved the huge dog back from the door.

Struggling with the black boarhound Hagrid let them in. There was only one room inside and hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yer selves at home" said Hagrid.

As soon as he let go of Fang, he bounded straight at Briar and started licking his cheek and she laughed as it tickled her skin. She pulled the chicken from her bag that she had gotten off of Zingy in the kitchens. Zingy used to be the Potter's house elf, but worked in Hogwarts after her Nanna and granddad Potter died and her parents went into hiding. She was planning on asking Dumbledore if she could go home with her at Christmas and work for her and Uncle Moony as the poor elf basically burst into tears when she saw another Potter.

"This is Ron" Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate, Briar knew from experience not to eat the rock cakes unless you want to break your teeth.

"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest.

Briar laughed, guessing that Hagrid probably wasn't even exaggerating and moved to sit on one of Hagrid's arm chairs, it was so big that her feet couldn't even touch the ground. Fang rested his head on Briar's lap and drooled all over her robes as she listened to Hagrid insult Filch when Harry and Ron told him about him almost giving them detention when he caught them near the forbidden corridor.

He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes.

Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus.

"An' as fer that cat, Mrs Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school. She follows me everywhere. Can't get rid of her – Filch puts her up to it" Hagrid told them.

The three of them then told Hagrid about Snivillus' lesson, but Hagrid just told them not to worry about it, but inwardly Briar already knew she was going to be pulling a lot of pranks on Snivillus over the years.

"But he seemed to really hate me and Bambi" Harry said.

"Bambi?" Ron frowned, but Briar, Harry and Hagrid ignored his question.

"Rubbish!" said Hagrid "Why should he?"

"I don't know, maybe it had something to do with our dad, but he does. Stupid Snivillus" Briar said in annoyance.

Hagrid's had snapped up at Briar's words "You didn' call him tha' did yer?"

"Yeah" Briar shrugged not really seeing the problem.

"Well, I'm sure he doesn' hate yer, he may dislike Briar after being called tha'" Hagrid told them.

Briar rolled her eyes, she could tell Hagrid was lying since he wouldn't quite meet their eyes as he said that, and that was what he always did when he was lying, it was like how Harry's voice got slightly higher.

"What was that about our dad?" Harry asked Briar with a frown.

"He went to school with Snivillus, and let's just say they didn't get along" Briar told him and Harry seemed to absorb what she said about their dad eagerly, just like he had whenever uncle Moony had mentioned anything over the summer.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron "I liked him a lot…great with animals"

Briar shared a glance with Harry, both of them clearly noticing Hagrid's subject change from Snivillus. Communicating the way that only twins could that clearly Hagrid was hiding something about Snivillus' dislike for them.

"He's working in Romania with Dragons right now" Ron told Hagrid and Briar listened intently, wanting to learn more about the Weasley's and she always did like magical animals, she was definitely going to take Care of Magical Creatures when they reach third year.

"Crikey, I love Dragons" Hagrid replied wistfully.

Ron nodded "he's training them to try and get them to be safer around people, but he always comes home with burns on his arms"

"Yeah, I 'spect it will be difficult" Hagrid said.

"If I didn't want to be an Auror, I'd love to work with Dragons. I bet it's really exciting" Briar told them.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed suddenly "That Gringotts break-in happened on mine and Bambi's birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Briar looked at the daily profit in Harry's hand and took it off of him, hold it between her and Ron so they could both read it:

_GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST _

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. _

_"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon._

Briar glance up at Hagrid to see that he was resolutely ignoring their eyes, grunting as he offered them all another rock cake. Briar handed Harry back the story, automatically knowing he would want to read it again.

She frowned in thought as she considered the story. The Daily Profit had said that the vault was emptied that day, and Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, by taking out the one little package that was in there.

When Harry and Ron made their way back to the castle for dinner, Briar stayed behind with Hagrid to serve the detention she had gotten from Minnie on the first day. She would also be coming down tomorrow morning because of the detention she got from Filch and then she would have to go down to the green house's for Sprout's detention and then two for Snivillus soon. All these detentions were seriously cutting into her free time.

On the upside she got to go into the forest, even if it was for detention. She was helping Hagrid feed the unicorn's since he was a man and couldn't go too close to them. The unicorns were beautiful, glowing pearly white, witch shining blue eyes and glistening silver manes and tails.

She tried to question Hagrid on what he was hiding from them about Snivillus, and whether Hagrid had collected that package just in time and where was it now? However, Hagrid changed the subject every time she bought it up and she decided that she would just have to figure it out later.

When she crossed the grounds to get back to the castle, she met Fred and George in the entry hall while everyone else was still at dinner. They were carrying the cauldron of green good between them and Briar was using the map in order to get to the Slytherin common rooms in the dungeons in order to not run into any prefects, teacher, Filch or Mrs Norris.

"Okay, what's the password?" Briar asked the twins as we stopped outside of the gargoyle that will let you inside.

Fred and Georg shared a glance.

"We thought you were getting the password" George said slowly.

"No, you were" Briar disagreed, narrowing her hazel eyes and putting her hands on her hips.

"You were" Fred insisted and Briar raised a brow.

"You were" Briar said.

"You were" George said.

"No, you were" Briar replied firmly.

"You were!" Fred and George stated at the same time.

"I was in detention, I know I'm brilliant but I still can't do two things at the same time" Briar replied, ruffling her hair with a smirk, immediately forgetting her annoyance.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Fred sighed, eyeing the cauldron of goo and the Gargoyle on the wall.

"Why don't we just do a switching spell, switch it for the carpet in the common room or something" George said and Briar and Fred instantly brightened with the idea.

Briar waited for one of the twin's to do the incantation, but they just looked at her expectantly.

"What, I've got to do it?" Briar asked. "Why?"

"We're holding the cauldron" Fred and George said simultaneously and Briar sighed.

Pulling out her wand she waved it over the goo in the cauldron and twirled his wand with a flick at the end, saying the incantation.

The waited for the switching spell to take effect, but the three of them shared a glance with a frown before looking down at the cauldron of goo when nothing happened. Suddenly the green substance began to bubble and produce an acrid spell as it began to produce smoke.

Fred and George dropped the cauldron then, and Briar and the twins backed away, eyeing it worriedly.

The good inside the cauldron began to grow and grow and grow until they were no longer looking at a cauldron fall of goo, but a six foot tall goo monster that had absorbed the pewter cauldron into itself. The monster caught sight of the three of them then and roared angrily.

Briar and the twins let out a scream in response and began to run, the Good monster following them.

"Briar, you did the spell wrong!" Fred shouted, panicked, as the three of them ran down the corridor, the goo monster close behind.

"Well, whose stupid idea was it to let the first year do the spell?" Briar cried defensively.

She gasped as the goo monster let out a mighty roar and forced herself to sprint faster down the corridor, ignoring the surprised cries of the other students in the vicinity.

"I hate to say this, but I think we should go to McGonagall!" George shouted, slightly out of breath.

"Are you out of your mind?! Then she'd know it was us!" Briar shouted.

She turned to looked at him incredulously but when she did, she was met by George letting out a startled yelp as he was sucked up inside the goo monster.

She turned to Fred, her wide hazel eyes met with shocked blue ones.

"To McGonagall?" He asked, winded, and Briar nodded in agreement.

By the time they finally reached Minnie's office, not only did the goo monster have the cauldron and George, but also a first year Hufflepuff, an ancient runes text book, someone's bag, Mrs Norris, and a helmet from a suit of armour.

They got a week's detention and five points each taken off of them for the ordeal.


	6. The Midnight Duel

Chapter Five

_The Midnight Duel_

Briar never thought she would meet someone she hated, like, actually hated. Sure there was Voldemort and the death eaters, but that was different. Now she had met Draco Malfoy she was proved wrong, and she didn't like to be wrong. Luckily, the first-year Gryffindors only had potions with the Slytherins so she didn't have to put up with him much, Harry felt much the same way about him and she was wondering if it was a twin thing.

When Briar came down from the dorms, straightening her red and gold tie as she did, she frowned when she noticed that the first years were all gathered around the bulletin board. She went over to see what was happening and could help but smirk slightly when all the first years parted to let her through to look, being popular sure had its benefits.

_Flying lessons will be occurring on Thursday with the Slytherins under Madame Hooch's teaching_

A grin immediately lit up her face. This was the best thing to happen since they started Hogwarts, she could show off her brilliant flying skills.

"YES!" she shouted happily, ruffling her hair.

"Typical," she heard her twin say darkly behind her and she turned to see him and Ron frowning at the notice "Just what I always wanted, to make a fool out of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy"

Briar rolled her eyes, Harry really needed to learn confidence, obviously he was going to be better than Malfoy, who probably sucked. She had heard him bragging and honestly it sounded fake and even if it wasn't she was sure they would be better than him anyway.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool out of yourself" said Ron reasonably. "I know he brags a lot but I bet it's all talk"

"Definitely" Briar nodded in agreement "besides, you're a Potter, flying's in your blood, and we're definitely better than _Malfoy_" she sneered his name.

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.

She found it ridiculous to be honest, she knew she was great and Quidditch and she couldn't deny that she's arrogant, but she doesn't brag, she doesn't see the point, she was confident enough in her skills to let them speak for themselves.

Briar and Ron had gotten into a big fight with Dean Thomas a couple of days ago when she was visiting Harry in their dorms. Dean kept going on about football, which was just stupid. How could he think it was better than Quidditch? There was only one ball, you weren't allowed to fly and the Poster on his wall didn't even move. How boring!

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Briar and Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground, which to be honest Briar found amusing more than anything else, like when Peeves threw chalks at him from the Arithmancy classroom and he had tripped, falling into a trip step, where he stayed until a passing Hufflepuff helped him out.

Hermione was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book, not that she hadn't tried. To be honest even Briar, who could talk about flying for hours on end was getting sick of her 'pointers' and had taken to just leaving to go and hang out with the twins and Lee.

On Wednesday she, Fred, George and Lee decided to sneak out to Hogsmeade since Hermione was keeping her up with all her worrying about flying tomorrow. Briar had borrowed her 'Quidditch through the ages' hoping it would calm her, but she ended up taking it back out of annoyance when Hermione starting dissecting and ridiculing all the Quidditch moves that she thought were pure brilliance.

"Did you bring the map?" Briar whispered to George as the three boys descended into the dark common room where she was waiting.

"Of course we did" George said, rolling his blue eyes as Fred pulled the blank marauder's map from his pocket.

"Well let's get going then, I can't wait to catch up with Madame Rosmerta" Lee smirked, running a hand through his dreadlocks.

"Ew gross, man, she's pushing forty" Briar laughed, wrinkling her nose.

Fred opened the map and they left the portrait, ignoring the Fat Lady's indignant cries shouting "Where do you four think you're going?!" and "I'm not letting you back in if you come late!" and "Back in the day, students had respect!" Briar just chuckled, knowing from experience that she was just bluffing. The portrait would huff and not let them in and instead just puff up her pink dress, but within five minutes they would be granted entrance.

"Which passageway are we using, George?" Lee asked.

"The mirror on the fourth floor" Fred answered and Lee nodded, Briar couldn't help but snicker at the fact he still seemed unable to tell them apart, but then again neither can their mum.

It didn't take them long to reach the fourth floor, full of whispered conversations, secretly turning the Ravenclaw prefect's hair red as they sneaked past, only to have to jump into an empty classroom to avoid Filch and locking Mrs Norris in a broom cupboard before finally slipping into the secret passageway.

Out of all the passageways this one had to be her favourite. Not only did it lead into the back of The Three Broomsticks, but the passageway was much nicer than the others which were just dark hallways with cracking stone walls and dripping ceilings. This was wide and spacious with torches lining the walls so that they could actually see where they were going and cushions, portraits, book and other paraphernalia were littering the floor from past troublemakers that had found the passageway.

After about twenty minutes of races and jokes and threatening to cut off Lee's dread locks if he talked about Madame Rosmerta's breasts one more time, they finally emerged into the empty back room of The Three Broomsticks from behind a portrait of four witches drinking firewhiskey in a permanent state of drunkenness.

"Hey, Rosmerta" the four of them chirped simultaneously as they entered and sat on four stools and Briar propped her elbow on the bar.

Briar couldn't deny that Madame Rosmerta, the bar maid, was beautiful. She had a mass of chocolate brown curls pulled back from her made-up face, a tight red dress that had a corset top that showed off her cleavage and a white apron tied around her waist.

Rosmerta rolled her eyes in amusement.

"You know, one of these days someone is going to have to tell me how students get in here" Rosmerta said with a smile tugging at her cherry red lips.

"Sorry, Rosmerta" Lee replied, but his tone wasn't in the least bit apologetic.

"Aww, don't be like Rosie" Fred smirked.

"Yeah, keep talking like that and we'll start to think you're not glad to see us" George added, his expression mirroring that of his twin.

"Oh, and what a tragedy that would be" Rosmerta joked as she circled around the bar and began to wipe down the surface with her dishtowel.

"So, Rosie, how about a firewhiskey?" Briar asked mischievously.

Rosmerta rose a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"For first and third years?" Rosmerta scoffed.

"You are turning down a valued customer?" Briar faux gasped "what kind of establishment is this?"

"You know fine well" Rosmerta laughed and smacked Briar on the arm with the towel and she gave a fake gasp of pain. "I'll get you four butterbeers"

"Oh well, you tried" Lee sighed patting her arm sympathetically and Briar laughed.

She took a sip of her butterbeer as soon as it was placed in front of her and sighed in content as it seemed to warm her up from inside out.

"So, what mischief have you four been up to lately?" Rosmerta asked.

The barmaid crossed her arms and leaned forward on the bar, looking at them questioningly. Briar couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw her three best friends glance down at the older woman's chest with an obvious action. She got that they were hormonal thirteen year old boys, but they could at least be subtle about it.

"Well, I got another detention from Snivillus" Briar smirked as the boys seemed to have momentarily lost the ability to speak.

"Ah, Severus, what did you do to him now?" Rosmerta asked in amusement.

Her voice seemed to break the boys out of the stupor and the three of them laughed.

"Oh we have to say it was the funniest-" George started.

"-Thing ever!" Fred finished with another laugh.

"Yeah" Lee agreed, grinning "Snape was storming about the castle in a rage, his robes flashing red and gold"

Rosmerta snorted in a laugh that she somehow managed to make elegant.

"Sometimes it's like having your father back here" Rosmerta told her with a sad smile and Briar took another sip of her butterbeer so that she didn't have to answer.

"That's nothing compared to what we did to Quirrell" Fred said breaking the sombre mood and Briar hid her grateful smile, not wanting to get sappy and just laughed with Lee and George as the four of them began to dramatically regale the story.

When it got to The Three Broomstick's closing hour the four of them waved goodbye to Madame Rosmerta, Fred and George sneaking a kiss on each of her cheeks so that the four of them had to run for the passageway as she tried to hit them with her dishtowel, but she had a smile on her face.

When the four of them reached Gryffindor tower it was two in the morning and Briar was leaning on Lee as her eyelids grew heavy with tiredness.

"Caput Draconis" Fred told the fat Lady loudly making Briar jump and she rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the sleepiness.

"The password changed at midnight" the fat lady sighed and Briar rolled her eyes as the unconvincing apologetic tone.

"Yeah right, and I have hooves" Briar said and ignored the boys confused frowns as she grinned at her inside joke, as she knew very well that she did.

"Please just let us in" Lee said pleadingly as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"The password has changed" the fat lady lied again.

"Please, please just let us in!" George cried dramatically, falling to his knees in front of the portrait hole and Briar and Lee hid their laughs in each other's shoulders.

"We're so tired, we have to get in!" Fred piled on, adding a faux sob for affect.

"Oh, alright, the password hasn't changed" she gave up, "But one of these days you will get caught out and I won't help"

The four of them nodded but Briar knew she was just bluffing again and the portrait hole swung open so the four of them climbed inside tiredly.

She didn't even bother say goodnight to the guys as she climbed up to the first year girl's dorms, too tried to even speak. When she got up there she collapsed on her bed without even getting changed.

"Where have you been?" Hermione's voice hissed angrily as the lamp beside Briar's bed flickered on.

Briar groaned and forced her eyes open. Hermione was standing over her, her bushy hair messier than usual and she was clad only in her nightie and pink dressing gown, lips pursed in annoyance.

"It is a school night, you shouldn't be sneaking out" Hermione said disapprovingly and Briar sighed, closing her eyes again. "I keep telling you and telling you that you need to buckle down and stop rule-breaking, what if you get locked out or caught and expelled? You really should-"

Briar didn't find out what she should do as she fell asleep then, but judging by the fact that her dreams contained Hermione glaring at her disapprovingly she suspected the brown eyed girl had continued to rant at her even after she fell asleep.

Hermione refused to speak to Briar Thursday morning on the basis that she wouldn't speak to her again until she got her act together, but Briar knew it wouldn't last, she was the girls only friend after all. However, Briar decided that it was probably a blessing as Hermione was boring all the other first years stupid with Flying tips she had gotten from all the books she has gotten from the library.

Briar chatted with Seamus adamantly about Quidditch before they got into a debate on who was better, the Holyhead Harpies or the Caerphilly Catapults. Briar stuck by her claim that the Holyhead harpies had much better chasers and may have lost to the Tornadoes a few days ago, much to her disappointment, but they were still brilliant and the seeker could catch a snitch with her eyes closed if she tried hard enough.

It seemed only Neville was listening to Hermione, in fact he was hanging on her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang onto his broomstick later. However, it seemed how everybody else was very pleased when her lecture was cut short by the arrival of the mail, judging by their sighs of relief (they smothered them in their breakfast when Hermione turned her glare on them)

She smiled as she read her letter from Uncle Moony. He had gotten a new job at an apothecary in Diagon Alley which he was feeling positive about, Briar hoped he wasn't lying for her benefit. He also wished her luck on the flying lesson and congratulated her on the prank on Snivillus, although he made her promise that if anyone asked she would say he scolded her, and Briar couldn't help but smirk and ruffle her hair when he commented on how brilliant her flying skills were. Well he didn't say it directly, but it was implied.

As she was folding up the letter and making a mental note to write to him later, she felt rather than saw Harry's irritation as though it was seeping into her from his spot next to her at the table. She followed his narrowed green eyes, identical to their mother's, to see Malfoy at the Slytherin table and her own eyes automatically narrowed. He was pulling a package from the Malfoy's eagle owl and was opening it gloatingly, smirking in their direction.

"That slimy git. He's going to find him get pranked" Briar said through gritted teeth.

Malfoy was quick to notice that Harry hasn't gotten any mail since Hagrid's note and he had been rubbing it in ever since.

Her and Harry's attention was stolen however when a barn owl bought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Rememberall!" he explained "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh…" his face fell, because the Rememberall had suddenly glowed as scarlet as the Gryffindor banner above them "you've forgotten something…"

Neville was trying to remember what he's forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Rememberall out of his hand.

Briar jumped to her feet angrily with Harry and Ron, fingering her wand in her robe pocket, trying to remember the hexes she had read in a book when she went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid and Harry. She was half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy and she was sure the other two felt the same, but sadly Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Malfoy's got my Rememberall, Professor" Neville explained.

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Rememberall back on the table "just looking" he said, and then sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

Briar was glad he got stopped from bullying a Gryffindor, but she didn't feel any satisfaction after not being able to hex him and slumped down into her seat, trying to zone out Hermione's on going lecture about flying.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Briar, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first lesson.

It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Fred and George had complained to her about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. Briar wished now more than ever that she had been allowed to bring her nimbus with her.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Briar glanced down at her broom distastefully. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Briar's broom jumped into her hand and wasn't surprised to see that Harry's had as well, he was a Potter after all. She was pleased to see that they were two of the few who did and a small arrogant smirk appeared on her face. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Briar wasn't surprise, Broom could tell when you were afraid and there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. Briar had heard from her uncle Moony that his mum, Alice, was much the same with brooms.

Briar zoned out when Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and instead just mounted her broom easily, grinning at her own brilliance when she skipped past her as she corrected people's grips. Briar, Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard" said Madam Hooch "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two -"

Briar readied herself by tightening her grip slightly a adjusting her position accordingly, but Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had even touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty fee.

Briar gripped her broom, ready to take off and help him, but Hermione gripped her arm, tight.

"Don't you dare, you are not getting in anymore trouble" Hermione snapped.

"Oh, now you start talking to me" Briar groaned, of course 'Mione would only start talking to her to stop her from doing something.

Briar frowned, biting her lip as she felt her gut twisting with the need to help a fellow Gryffindor from getting hurt. Looking up, she saw Neville's scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and – WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift towards the forbidden forest and out of sight. Madame Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist" she muttered "come on, boy – it's all right, up you get"

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wind." She told them "you leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on dear" Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobble off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter and Briar turned angry hazel eyes to the stinking Slytherin.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy" snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl with a face like a dog "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati"

"Shove it, Pugface!" Briar retorted sticking up for her dorm mate and Parvati shot her a grateful look.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him" the Rememberall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy" Briar demanded, holding out her hand with an intense glare on her face.

Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily "I don't think so, Potter, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find – how about – up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off.

Briar was annoyed to see that the git hadn't been lying, he could fly well, not that she's ever admit that out loud.

Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak, he called "Come and get it Potters!"

Briar and Harry both grabbed their brooms.

"No!" shouted Hermione "Madam Hooch told us not to move…you'll get us all into trouble.

Harry ignored her and Briar went to do the same, but Hermione gripped her arm again. She struggled against her grip.

"No, your brother can be as stupid as he wants but you're my friend and I'm not letting you get into that much trouble, this isn't a prank, this could get you expelled" Hermione hissed, tightening her grip to near bruising level and Briar finally gave up, but she didn't do it happily, she worked her jaw angrily.

She watched as her twin mounted his broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared, air rushing through his messy black hair and his robes whipped out behind him. Briar scowl faded into a smirk when she saw that Harry was a natural on the broom, if she allowed her vision to blur so that she couldn't see his green eyes she could almost believe him to be their dead fresh from the photo albums her uncle Moony used to show her at night instead of bed time stories.

Briar easily spotted the grin that appeared on Harry's face and she swore she could feel his joy flitting into her. She was sure he had just found his passion and it wouldn't be long until he was just as obsessed with Quidditch as she was, he was a Potter after all. Their great grandfather William Potter had been a keeper for the Falcons when he left Hogwarts, something that according to Uncle Moony he dad always bragged about.

She rolled her eyes as Lavender and Parvati let out scream and girlish gasps and instead let out an admiring whoop with Ron.

She watched closely as Harry turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. She grinned at the stunned look on Malfoy's face, he had clearly underestimated Harry's untapped potential on a broomstick.

"Give it here, or I'll knock you off that broom!" Harry's voice called.

"Oh, yeah?" Malfoys voice came as he tried to sneer and Briar gave a victorious smirk when she caught the worried look on his pale, pointed face.

Harry suddenly shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only got out of the way in time and Harry made an about-face staying steady on his broom.

Briar weaselled her arm out of Hermione's grasp and began to clap with some Seamus, Dean and Ron.

"No, Crabbe and Goyle up here to save you neck, Malfoy" Harry called and Briar laughed at the dig.

The same thing seemed to have struck Malfoy as instead of retorting, he shouted "Catch it if you can, then!" and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.

Briar briefly considered storming up to Malfoy and punching him in his stupid, smug face, but decided to wait for now, instead watching her twin. Harry leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down and began gathering speed in a steep dive, racing towards the broom. First years around her began to scream but she just focused on her brother, a small smile on her face, knowing without a doubt Harry would be fine.

Harry stretched out his hand and a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he landed back on the ground, stumbling only slightly. Briar gave him a pat on the back when he neared her and he shot her a grin.

"HARRY POTTER!" Briar winced in perfect unison with her twin: Professor McGonagall was running towards him "Never…in all my time at Hogwarts…" Minnie was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "…How dare you…might have broken you neck…"

"It wasn't their fault, Professor…"

"Be quiet, miss Patil"

"But, Malfoy…"

"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Mr Potter, follow me"

"Oh come on Minnie, it could have been worse" Briar protested not liking the idea of her twin getting into serious trouble especially when she spotted the pale look on her face.

"I am well aware of that, Miss Potter" Minnie snapped "Mr Potter, now!"

Briar stared after her twin as he slowly left with Minnie and she bit her lip with worry.

"Don't. Say. 'I told you so'" Briar snapped at Hermione when she opened her mouth to speak and her friend listened her mouth shutting so quickly Briar heard her teeth click.

When Briar caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as Harry and Minnie left she whirled on them angrily, her hazel eyes flashing. She stormed over to the three Slytherins and plunged her hand into her robe pocket to point her wand at them. Gasps sounded around her and she was so angry she couldn't even smirk as she glared and ground her teeth together.

"You slimy git! This is all your fault!" she shouted angrily, every hex she knows playing on her lips.

"Aww, are you upset that you're brother's going to get expelled" Malfoy said meanly and his goons laughed, but Briar could see that the three of them were glancing down at her raised wand nervously.

"Keep talking, Malfoy" Briar growled warningly, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you going to do about it?" Goyle said dumbly as he and Crabbe cracked their knuckles in a way that she supposed was supposed to be menacing.

Briar raised a dark brow with a cruel smirk.

"I think that's pretty self-explanatory" she retorted condescendingly.

"Briar, don't you-" but before Hermione could say any more she flicked her wand and the three boys let out a yell as they were pulled upside down by their ankles and laughed with the others.

"Put them down, you Gryffindork!" Pansy Parkinson shouted, storming up to her, distracting her from looking up victoriously at the three upside down Slytherins.

"Why, are you going to make me, Pugface?" Briar asked in amusement, as she lowered her wand to look at the girl.

Parkinson raised her own wand, but Briar just laughed in her face, she had seen her practicing her spell work around the castle and she was sure that even Neville was better than her.

"MISS POTTER!" Madam Hooch shouted (Parkinson quickly putting her wand away when she realised there was an adult in the vicinity) as she stormed across the ground towards her, her lips still pinched with worry from taking Neville to the hospital wing "Put those boys down this instant!"

"But, Madam Hooch…" she wined, turning towards the grey haired witch.

"Now!" she shouted.

Briar sighed in annoyance, but flicked her wand in the direction of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, chanting the silent spell in her head as she did the wand work and resisted a smirk and they let out a groan as they fell to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

"Ten points from Gryffindor." Madam Hooch snapped "now everyone back to the castle, the lesson is cancelled"

Briar groaned from the loss of points as she and Ron followed the other first years on their way back towards the castle.

"Well I don't know what you expected" Hermione's voice came as she came up behind Briar so that she and Ron stopped to turn towards the brunette witch "but I think you and Harry got what you deserved, you both acted very immature and reckless"

"Oh, loosen up, 'Mione" Briar sighed, but Hermione just harrumphed and walked quickly away towards the castle with her nose in the air.

Ron stared after her for a second before he shook his head with a scowl.

"What's her problem" Ron sneered and he and Briar shared a glance before she shrugged and they both continued on their way to the castle.

As soon as Briar got into the castle she parted ways with Ron and went to find the twins, knowing that they always went to the kitchens around this time. She strolled down the hallway that came off the Great Hall passing different portraits of food, but was looking for one in particular. At the end of the hallway there was a portrait of a bowl of fruit and Briar couldn't help but grin when she saw it.

The pear giggled when she reached forward to tickle it and the paining swung forward to prevail the huge expanse of the kitchen. She breathed in the smell of food with a sigh of content as the house elves bustled about busy in preparation for lunch.

"Mistress Bambi!" a high pitched voice called as a small body flung itself at her and she got pushed backwards slightly as she laughed and hugged the small creature back. "What can Zingy do for you?" she asked eagerly.

Briar looked down at the elf fondly. Zingy was smaller than the other elves, but with bigger ears and tennis ball sized blue eyes. She was wearing a pristine white pillowcase on her small form and a bright pink hat on her head. Zingy was a free elf, but she worked at Hogwarts and was still completely loyal to the Potters, shown in how she treats Briar.

"Hey Zingy" Briar greeted, giving the elf another warm hug as she beamed at the affection "and I'm good thanks, why don't you go and help the other's with the food, who knows how they'll survive without you?" she through Zingy a wink.

Zingy's wide blue eyes were brimming with tears as she grinned and quickly rushed off to help the other house elves.

"That elf completely adores you" George laughed, spooning pudding in his mouth, as she went to sit with them at the small table in the corner of the kitchen.

"Well of course, I am adorable" Briar smirked, ruffling her hair.

"Of course you are" Fred said condescendingly, patting her head.

Briar shot him a faux glare with narrowed hazel eyes as Fred ginned at her. Fred scooped up some of his pudding from his bowl but before he could eat it Briar snatched his spoon and a second late had a mouthful of delicious Hogwarts pudding.

"Oh, mature, real lady like" Fred told her dryly.

"Blahh" Briar opened her mouth to show off the pudding inside making Fred wrinkle his nose and George laugh as she swallowed.

"Where's Lee?" she asked, looking about the kitchen as though expecting him to be hiding amongst the house elves.

"He's in the dorm cramming so he can do all the homework-" Fred started.

"-It's all due tomorrow" George finished.

"He's behind on homework already?" Briar laughed "Well, you know what he needs?"

"What?" Fred and George asked simultaneously as they easily picked up on the mischievous undertone in her voice.

"A distraction" she smirked and the twins shared a glance before mirroring the expression.

"And what ideas are going around your evil, little mind?" Fred asked eagerly.

"Well…let's just say it involves Dungbombs, an angry Filch and a fluorescent pink Mrs Norris" Briar explained.

"Perfect" Fred and George grinned at the same time.

The three Gryffindors had only gotten half way towards the tower intent to find Lee before they were stopped by a burly, excited looking Gryffindor running up to them.

"Oliver, what's got you all giddy?" Fred asked the Gryffindor, Oliver.

"We've finally found a new seeker!" Oliver exclaimed and he seemed on the verge of bouncing.

It was then that Briar realised that this was Wood, he was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and a grin appeared on her lips.

"Really?" Fred gasped in surprise.

"That's great!" George explained "Since Charlie left we haven't won the Quidditch cup for years"

"Yeah, you've heard McGonagall Snape's been unbearable" Fred added.

"Who's the seeker?" Briar asked eagerly.

Oliver jumped and looked down at her in surprise, it seemed he had only just noticed she was there.

"Oh, Briar right?" Oliver asked.

Briar nodded impatiently "yeah, who's the seeker?"

"It's your brother actually, Harry. McGonagall recommended him" Oliver grinned.

Briar felt her eyes widen in shock and happiness bubbled inside of her. Not only is her twin not being expelled before of _Malfoy_ of all people, but he had also made the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Briar squealed happily and Fred and George looked down at her in shock.

Briar put her hand over her mouth in shock with wide eyes before she lowered it slowly and said "that never happened"

"Oh but, I believe-" Fred started with a teasing voice with a smirk.

"It never happened" Briar repeated in a low warning tone as she narrowed her eyes at Fred making him pale slightly and he nodded hurriedly as George and Oliver snickered. Briar grinned evilly "great, now let's go find my brother"

"Right, but keep it on the down low. He's our secret weapon" Oliver told them before leaving quickly, probably to go and tell the rest of the team, since he had only told them since Fred and George were the beaters.

She had seen Fred and George play when they snuck out onto the Quidditch pitch after hours and they let her ride their broom. She gladly admitted that they were the best beaters she had ever seen, she figured them being twins had something to with it, they could work together so seamlessly, and she knew how that was as she had the same connection with Harry.

Briar scoffed at the very idea that something could be kept a secret at Hogwarts, after all the pranks she had pulled she was rather well known around Hogwarts and not just as the 'famous Harry Potter's' twin, because the rumours spread so quickly.

It wouldn't be hard to find Harry since it was time for lunch so they as soon as they entered the hall they looked around and when the three of them spotted Harry they hurried over. Briar plopped down next ton Ron, opposite Harry, as Fred and George stood behind her.

"Well done" George told Harry in a low voice "Wood just told us. We're on the team too…Beaters"

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year" said Fred "we haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when we saw him earlier"

"He is, you should have seen the look on Malfoy's face during flying lessons, it was epic!" Briar laughed before she turned towards Harry "I am so jealous. I can't believe Minnie broke the first year rule for you, I would sell Ron's arm to be on that team"

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed around a mouthful of mashed potatoes, but Briar just ignored him.

"Anyway, we've got to go; Lee Jordon reckons he's found a new secret passageway" George said.

"I bet it's that one behind Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first year" Fred added.

"What so you go on about his homework but you leave out that he thinks he's found a new passageway?" Briar asked angrily.

The twins just grinned before leaving quickly.

"You two are so lucky I have detention right now, otherwise you would be paying for that right now!" Briar shouted after them before she quickly waved goodbye to Harry and Ron, who were suppressing grins at the spectacle.

Briar began to make her way out of the hall, the castle and then across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut. She was at least glad that this was another detention with Hagrid in the forest as they weren't so bad, even interesting sometimes as she made her way through the forest. They were a hundred times better than detentions with Filch when you either had to clean the trophy room or the floors or the toilets, with Filch hovering over you with insults.

When she finally got down to Hagrid's hut he was already waiting for her at the edge of the forest, the cross bow that is usually outside his door, held tightly in his hands.

"How yer doin' Briar?" Hagrid greeted her "I'm startin' ter think there will be no need fer yer to visit with how many detentions yer getting' with me" Hagrid laughed and Briar grinned ruffling her hair.

"Well you know me, always looking for trouble" she smirked.

"Don' I know it" Hagrid laughed again "it's like havin' the marauders here all over again, it's hard enough ter keep those friends of yers away from the forest"

Briar laughed, she had heard first hand from the twins and Hagrid about all the twins failed attempts to get in the forest. Ranging from just sprinting towards it in the hope that Hagrid couldn't catch them, or at least not both of them, but they didn't take into account that Hagrid was big enough to grab both of them simultaneously. There was also a time when they got an older student to cast a disillusionment charm on them, but Fang hand sniffed them out in a couple of seconds.

"I do love spending time with you" Briar said slowly in a faux musing voice but couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face when Hagrid let out a booming laugh.

"I'm sure that's the reason" Hagrid said, his beard twitching as he smiled "Now, come on, best get this over with" he said nodding towards the forest.

Briar nodded and began to follow him into the forest, looking around eagerly, wanting to spot any creatures. She loved the creatures that resided in the wizarding world. She was definitely taking Care of Magical Creatures when she's older, they were about the only books she could actually sit and read without getting bored to seconds later.

"What exactly are we doing anyway?" she asked, turning away from the dense trees around them to look up at Hagrid questioningly.

"We're tryin' ter find tha' broom tha' was lost" Hagrid told her.

Briar nodded, recalling the school broom speeding its way towards the forbidden forest as it finally stopped catching height.

The next hour was spent with Briar alternating between looking for the broom, looking for magical creatures and moaning about how long it was taking.

"Hagrid, I'm hungry, can't you just say we didn't find it" Briar groaned, holding onto her stomach as it grumbled for the umpteenth time.

"Can't do tha' Briar, yer here ter be punished" Hagrid said, he tried to make his voice stern, but the sympathetic undertone didn't allow that.

"Fine" Briar sighed and looked around again for the broom.

She narrowed her eyes to look through the trees before jumping forward when she noticed the broom.

"Hey, there it-" Briar started, pointing before she saw a weird creature emerge from the trees and sniff at the ground around the broom.

It looked rather like a horse, but it was black and skeletal with leathery wings, rather similar to that of a bat. It reminded her of death and it was rather creepy, but at the same time she saw a rather subtle grace to it as it stretched out its wings, flapping them slightly.

"What is it?" Briar asked quietly, taking a hesitant step forward, before stopping when it's head snapped towards her.

"Tha's a Thestral" Hagrid told her, before looking down at her flying. "You can only see them if you have seen death….Lily" he whispered.

Briar closed her eyes as she saw a flash of green and her mum screaming for mercy, her last moments spent begging before she was falling and all she saw before she fell asleep were her mum's empty green eyes and ruby red hair spilling across the floor.

"Harry says doesn't remember anything. I really wished I didn't" Briar whispered, dragging her wrist across her eyes to get rid of any evidence of tears, not wanting to seem weak.

Hagrid seemed to sense that it was a touchy subject and it was only when she saw the tears brimming in his beetle eyes that she remembered he used to be friends with her parents back when they were in the order of the phoenix together.

"I've bin rearing the Thestrals since I became grounds keeper. They pull the carriages that go to and from Hogsmeade Station" Hagrid explained.

Briar nodded absently. She made her way slowly towards the skeletal horse. As she got close the Thestral looked at her sceptically and took a nervous step back, so she paused.

"Just reach out yer hand 'n' let it get use ter yer" Hagrid told her softly and Briar glanced at the half-giant before nodding and looking back towards the Thestral.

Briar slowly stretched out her hand and the Thestral leaned away from her slightly as though scared she was a threat so she just held her arm outstretch. The Thestral tilted it's head looking at her with glinting black eyes before it took a hesitant step forward and sniffed at her hand. It seemed to decide she wasn't a threat as it stepped even closer and allowed Briar to stroke her hand across it's leathery skin, making a high pitched noise that she supposed was happiness.

Briar couldn't help but grin and when she looked over to Hagrid he was positively beaming before he grabbed the broom from the forest floor.

When Briar got to the common room she still couldn't get the happy grin off her face and went over to where Hermione was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room with a skip in her step.

"Hey, 'Mione. How're you doing?" Briar chirped as she sat next to her.

"Fine" Hermione replied absently as she glanced at the three different thick books that were lying open in front of her and scribbling some notes down on her parchment with her quill.

Briar frowned and grabbed one of the books to turn towards her to read a few words.

"Transfiguration?" Briar asked, and Hermione finally glanced up, she noticed that Briar had taken one of her books and she scowled, grabbing it and turning it back towards her. "I didn't know Minnie gave us homework"

"You really need to call her Professor McGonagall" Hermione told her disapprovingly "and we didn't. I'm just doing a little extra studying"

"A little?" Briar scoffed, making Hermione glare at her before she began to furiously scribble down more notes.

Briar watched her for a few moments before glancing down to what she was writing. It was a spell to turn an inanimate object into a bird.

"Ferangula, huh?" Briar smirked "I'm sure I could find some use for that"

"I hate it when you act like…like…well, _you_" Hermione said, pressing her lips together in a Minnie-like fashion.

"No you don't, you love it" Briar smirked again "You're the queen of everything serious, you need a jester in your life"

Hermione just rolled her brown eyes but Briar could see the small smile tugging at her lips.

"So, are Ron and my twin being any nicer to you yet?" Briar asked curiously.

Hermione sighed and put down her quill.

"No. I pointed out that they were being stupid for accepting a midnight duel from Malfoy and-" Hermione started.

"They're having a midnight duel with Malfoy?! Wicked!" Briar cut in excitedly, only to get a glare from 'Mione and she quickly changed it to "I mean how terrible and immature of them"

Hermione rolled her eyes, before she sagged into her chair.

"I'm just trying to keep them out of trouble and show that just because I'm a muggleborn doesn't mean I'm not as good, but they just keep seeing me as the bad guy" Hermione said sadly, tears brimming in her brown eyes.

"Well…yeah" Briar said pursing her lips and patting her friend awkwardly on the arm.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're terrible at comforting people?" Hermione sniffed, wiping away a stray tear.

"Yeah" Briar said in an overenthusiastic voice.

Hermione let out a small laugh and Briar couldn't help the victorious grin that appeared on her face as she cheered up her friend.

"Okay, maybe you're not that made" Hermione chuckled, giving her a warm smile.

"You are my best friend who's a girl so I figured I should bring out the big guns" Briar replied with a mischievous smile as she ruffled her hair.

"You're my best friend too" Hermione said warmly and pulled her into a hug.

"Hermione, I'm you're only friend" Briar laughed ad was glad when Hermione laughed as well instead of taking it the wrong way.

Briar slouched down in her chair and stretched out her legs as she watched Hermione continue to study but got bored after only a few seconds and grabbed a spare quill and piece of parchment from Hermione and began to doodle a snitch, before adding in a picture of Harry and getting Hermione to animate it.

After the picture was done it wasn't long until she got bored again and she decided to go up to the first year boys dorms.

"Hey, Harry, Ron" Briar chirped as she entered their dorm without knocking.

"What are you doing in here? You can't be here!" Ron cried out indignantly as he quickly hopped up from his bed.

"Why were you doing something that I can't see?" Briar smirked, raising a suggestive brow, which made the tips of Ron's ear blush almost as red as his hair.

"Great to see you, Bambi" Harry greeted, chuckling at Ron's embarrassment.

"So…" Briar started, moving to lounge next to Harry on his bed "what's this I hear about a midnight duel with Malfoy?"

"How did you know about that?" Harry gasped, looking at her questioningly.

"I spent my day stalking you" Briar said with a straight face before she dissolved into giggles at Ron's alarmed face "I'm kidding, Hermione told me"

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes at the mention of his sister's friend and Ron scowled.

"Ugh, that girl is nothing but trouble" Ron muttered darkly.

"Well, I'm sure she thinks the same of you" Briar said with a condescending smile.

Harry rolled his eyes again.

"Malfoy found out I wasn't expelled and then challenged me to a duel and I obviously wasn't going to turn him down so I agreed and Ron said he's be my second before Hermione heard and began to lecture us" Harry explained.

"Again" Ron added in annoyance.

Briar nodded. She was glad that Harry didn't back out of the duel, Potters shouldn't back down to anyone, certainly not stupid Slytherins like Malfoy. Besides, Malfoy probably wasn't expecting him to say yes, so she doubted he was any more prepared than Harry and Ron were.

"Anyway, do you think you could help us? You know way more hexes than we do" Harry asked pleadingly.

"Aww, you say the sweetest things" Briar said mockingly, batting her eyebrows.

"Shut up" Harry scoffed, with a small smile tugging at his lips, before he shoved her and she twirled of the bed, landing face down on the floor in front of the bed side table.

She groaned and began to pull herself up.

"So why would I help you again?" Briar groaned, glaring at Harry and went to sit on Dean Thomas' bed instead.

"Because we're your best friends?" Ron said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Actually, Fred, George, Lee and Hermione are my best friends" Briar smirked.

"Umm…" Ron seemed lost for another answer and looked to Harry for help.

"Because we're appealing to your troublemaker side and you would love for Malfoy to lose a duel to a Potter" Harry told her with earnest green eyes.

"Well, doesn't my twin know me well" Briar said mockingly and Harry and Ron shared a triumphant grin. "Tell you what, I'll help you, but only if you let me come"

"Sure, totally" Harry and Ron nodded simultaneously.

Ron had spent the rest of the evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them.", while Briar, gave better advice, if she does say so herself, by telling him how to do the jelly legs curse, and the confundus curse.

There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs Norris, which in Briar's opinion made it only that much more brilliant, the fear of getting caught causing adrenalin to course through you, something she could only get while flying. On the other hand, Harry spent the evening worrying getting caught as she rolled her eyes at how much he resembled their mum, but the reminder of Malfoy's sneering face made him reconsider…this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. Harry couldn't miss it.

"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last.

"We'd better go." Briar whispered from next to Harry as she figured it was easier for her to stay in their room for the night.

They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows.

They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this" A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione, wearing her usual pink bathrobe and a frown.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy…he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Briar groaned, she was starting to wonder how she could be friends with someone so interfering.

"Come on," Harry said to her and Ron.

Briar brushed past Hermione and Harry pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole. Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose. "Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Hermione, you know I love you, especially since you're my only friend that's a girl, but please go away" Briar begged.

"All right only because you're my friend, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so…" But what they were, they didn't find out.

Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"That's your problem," said Ron.

"Ron" Briar scolded, hitting him over the head.

"We've got to go; we're going to be late." Harry told her and Ron.

They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them. "I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are not." Harry snapped.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me?" Hermione snapped "If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve…" said Ron loudly.

"Shut up, all of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something."

Briar listened carefully and bit her lip when she heard a sort of snuffling, she really should have thought to borrow the map off the twins. She didn't mind getting caught and she loved near misses since they were so entertaining, but she didn't want to get detention before they even got to duel Malfoy.

"Mrs Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer. "Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours; I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed"

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now; the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere." Briar whispered

"How's your arm?" asked Harry.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good…well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later…" Briar said, the four of them turning to leave.

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. "If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."

Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward. They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room. Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness.

"Ugh…I hate this room" Briar moaned, absently rubbing her hand as she remembered the ache from hours of polishing metal.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Trust me 'Mione, if you spent as much time cleaning these trophies as I did, you would hate it too" Briar whispered back.

"I can't believe you two are friends, Briar's more of a trouble maker than Fred and George" Ron said looking at the two of them in disbelief.

"Opposites attract" Briar said shrugging "and she talks me out of my more stupid ideas"

They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once so Briar took hers out too, she briefly considered lighting it so they could see better but decided against it, since it would probably attract unwanted attention and get them caught.

The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Briar and Harry had only just raised their wands when they heard someone speak and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner" It was Filch speaking to Mrs Norris.

Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other four to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere, " they heard him mutter, "probably hiding. "

"This way!" Briar mouthed to the others and, exhilarated she and her scared friends began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour.

They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the five of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following…they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going…they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Briar panted, leaning against the cold wall and Harry nodded in agreement, wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"I…told…you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I…told…you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you…Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off." Hermione added.

Briar groaned when she realised how much sense that made, it was a total Slytherin move and she was annoyed at herself for not noticing it sooner.

"Let's go." Was the only thing Harry said in response, clearly not wanting to admit that she was right and Briar could certainly see where he was coming from, they didn't need another thing for Hermione to hold over their heads.

It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves …please …you'll get us thrown out" Harry pleaded.

Peeves cackled. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." Hermione begged.

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Just cover for us, pranksters' honour" Briar said giving him a salute, which Peeves returned.

They could hear Filch coming around the corner and they ran as fast as they could, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door….and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves.

"Oh, move over, " Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "'Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open…they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please. "'

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please, " said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right -please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage and Briar chuckled slightly in amusement.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay…get off, Neville!" As Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute.

"What?" Harry asked and Briar and the others turned with him and saw quite clearly, what.

For a moment, Briar was sure she was in a dream…this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor and now they knew why it was forbidden. They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads.

Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting overt hat, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

"Awww look at the doggy" Briar cooed walking closer.

"Briar Rose Potter, come back here" Harry hissed behind her as Neville let out a terrible whimper as he clung to Hermione and Ron.

"Relax, it's just a dog" Briar said turned to glance at Harry.

"A dog with three bloody heads" Ron whispered back.

Briar rolled her grey eyes and she seemed to know instinctually what to do and began to hum, stroking each of the three heads in turn. She wondered if it was an animagus thing to be good with animals, but the only other animagus she knew that was alive and out of Azkaban was Minnie and she certainly wasn't going to ask her. The dog began to wag it tail happily, it three tongs lolling outside of its mouth.

"Mental that one" she heard Ron mutter but chose to ignore it.

"See its fine" Brair replied, but the minute she stopped humming and stroking the dog it came out of its stupor and growled menacingly.

Harry groped for the doorknob, between Filch and death, he'd take Filch. At the last second Harry grabbed Briar and the five of them fell backward. Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor.

Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared…all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that…pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward.

They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on."

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet; I was too busy with its heads. "

"No, not the floor, It was standing on a trapdoor" Briar said rolling her eyes

"It's obviously guarding something." Hermione finished and then she stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you three are pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed…or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."

Briar nodded in agreement "she certainly needs to sort out her priorities" she told them, before following Hermione up the stairs.

However the trap door beneath the three-headed dog gave her something else to think about as she climbed into her own bed. The dog was guarding something...What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide…except perhaps Hogwarts. It looked as though she, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had accidentally stumbled onto where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.


	7. Halloween

Chapter Six

_Halloween_

Briar didn't think anything could be better than seeing the twins and Lee's jealous and awed expression when she told them about her adventure with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville running around the castle avoiding Filch and meeting the three headed dog. However, she was wrong, she couldn't wipe the grin off her face even if she tried when Malfoy looked at Harry and Ron with an utterly shocked expression when he realised they were still at Hogwarts, looking tired, but perfectly cheerful.

Briar thought it was a great adventure, despite Hermione's lecture this morning before she met the twins and Lee in the common room, and luckily Harry and Ron agreed and were keen to have another one.

In the meantime she was sitting in the great hall, both her and Ron scoffing their huge breakfasts at a great speed, as Harry filled her and Ron in on all his ideas about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous" Briar said eagerly, wanting to see this importing object so badly her insides were shivering, although that could be from the fact that she had eaten her breakfast in less than five minutes and was moving on to steal things from Harry's plate.

"Or Both" Harry added with a nod.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues. Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but according to them she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus, and to be honest Briar could see where they were coming from. Hermione was still speaking to Briar, but she was being much colder than before so that's why Briar found herself hanging around with Ron and her brother more, not liking the missing warmth in her friend's brown eyes.

Briar had sent a letter to her Uncle Moony a letter updating him on everything that was going on and had asked his opinion on the small package so when the mail came she looked up eagerly for Onyx, but was disappointed when she didn't see her. In fact, Onyx didn't arrive until a week later.

She was sitting with the Twins, Lee off in detention since they had snuck into Hogsmeade a couple of days ago and he was the only one to get caught.

"Anyway, and then Angeline starts laughing and Quirrell is stuttering more than usual and then Fred flicks his wand-" George continued.

"-And suddenly Quirrell is floating about a foot in the air and he cancels the lesson and we have a free period" Fred finished.

"So overall, it was a very productive lesson" Briar commented in amusement.

"Totally" Fred and George said in agreement with identical grins.

When there was a hoot of owls and a collective sound of flapping wings, Briar didn't even look up for Onyx, having long since given up on getting a reply from her Uncle Moony. So she was pleasantly surprised when Onyx landed softly in front of her and nibbled her fingers affectionately.

Briar smiled eagerly and stroked Onyx's silky black feathers absently as the bird began to nibble on Fred's toast and Briar unfolded the letter.

_Dear Bambi,_

_I'm sorry for the late reply it was a bad full moon, something had gone wrong with the Wolfsbane potion, I was in St Mungos for a couple of days._

_On a lighter note, it's great to hear that Harry has been offered a place of the Gryffindor team, by the sounds of it much like you he has Prongs' Quidditch skills, unlike Lily who couldn't stay on a broom to save her life. I have to say that I agree with Hermione that you did deserve to have points taken from you, it was very wrong to hex those Slytherins no matter how much you hate them. You need to get into less trouble, I am getting so many letters from the school that the draw I keep them in is over flowing._

Briar rolled her eyes, that was pretty rich coming from him, Messer moony of the Marauders.

_As to the three headed dog I strongly advise you to stay away from it, although I doubt you'll listen, as if Dumbledore is trying to guard something and keep it a secret, it is better to let it stay buried. I have absolutely no idea what the object could be although I am assuming you are right with the idea that it is very powerful and dangerous. I don't want you going anywhere near it. I am serious Briar Rose Potter._

_I got a letter from Hagrid regarding the Thestrals and I'm sorry I didn't warn you that it could happen. I was honestly hoping that since you were so you the seeing of a death wouldn't affect you. _

_Finally, I spoke to Dumbledore and he says that it will be perfectly fine for Zingy to come and stay with us, you may apparate home with her at Christmas rather than getting the train._

_Love Moony xx_

Briar sighed at the lack of information and folded the letter, putting it in her robe pocket.

She heard gasps sound around her and she looked up to see what the commotion was and her own gasp released itself from her lips. A long, thin package, carried by six large screech owls. Briar was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of Harry.

Briar shared a look with the twins before she quickly hopped to her feet and jogged to her twin.

"What's going on? What's the package?" Briar asked Harry asked as she sat down next to him, eyeing the package eagerly.

Harry just shook his head, looking at the package in wonder. He reached forward and grabbed the letter on top of the parcel and ripped it open. She watched his green eyes flitting across the page and they widened in awe before he handed the letter to her, failing terribly at hiding his glee, and she leaned over the table slightly so that she and Ron could read it at the same time.

It turned out it was a good thing Harry opened the letter first as it said:

_DO NOT OPEN AT THE TABLE_

_It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for you first training session._

_Professor McGonagall_

"A Nimbus Two Thousand" Briar moaned enviously, her eyes trailing back towards the package with wonder, knowing the beauty that was lying within it just waiting to be unwrapped.

"I've never even touched one" Ron said in an equally envious voice.

Briar shared a glance with Harry and Ron before they all seemed to come to the same conclusion and the three of them left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall, they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbed and Goyle. Briar put her hand in her pocket to grip her wand, anticipating an attack.

She glared angrily as Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"That's a broomstick" he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face "you two will be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them"

She shared a glance with Ron and neither of them could resist it.

"It's not just any old Broomstick" Briar smirked "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand?"

"What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron taunted turned to her and Harry with a grin "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus"

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle" Malfoy snapped back "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig"

Briar growled angrily at the dig on her friends, tightening her grip on her wand in her pocket, as the tops of Ron's ears reddened.

Briar opened her mouth to make a scathing remark, but was interrupted by Professor Flitwick appearing at Malfoy's elbow.

"Not arguing, I hope?" he squeaked.

"Potter has been sent a broomstick, Professor" said Malfoy quickly and Briar resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the immature attempt to get them into trouble.

"Yes, yes, that's right" said Professor Flitwick, positively beaming at Harry "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances. And what model is it?"

"Nimbus Two Thousand, sir" said Harry and Briar could easily tell that he was fighting hard not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face and Briar had to admit she was sure her face was identical to his and not just because they were identical twins.

"And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that he got one" Briar couldn't resist adding with a very small, very wicked smirk.

After Flitwick left, Briar, Harry and Ron headed upstairs, all of them smothering their laughter at Malfoy's face.

"Well, it's true" Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase "if he hadn't have stolen Neville's Rememberall I wouldn't be on the team…"

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" came an angry voice from behind them and Briar held in a groan when she realised Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand. This certainly wasn't going to help her and the boys' relationship.

"Yes" Briar answered immediately as she always knew breaking the rules had more benefits than losses but then she caught the look on Hermione's face "I meant No. I didn't say yes? Did you say yes?" she asked Harry who quickly shook his head "see, no one said yes here"

"Besides, I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry added.

"Yes, don't stop now" said Ron dryly "it's doing us so much good"

Hermione didn't even bother to answer, instead she just marched away with her nose in the air.

Briar had more trouble than usual keeping her mind on her lessons that day. It kept wandering to Harry's broomstick, unable to wait for him to unwrap it so she can see one up close and she wanted to ask If she can have a go to see how much of an improvement it was to her Nimbus 1700. It got so bad that she accidentally set Neville's robes on fire in Charms and due to her troublemaking reputation Flitwick thought she did it on purpose and took off twenty points. But she luckily gained them back when she was the first to perform the charm correctly.

She bolted her dinner that evening and was barely able to ask the twins how their day went until Harry and Ron were pulling her out of the hall to rush upstairs to unwrap Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand at last.

"Wow" she sighed in unison with Ron as the two broomsticks rolled onto Harry's bedspread.

It looked wonderful, she didn't think she had ever seen something so beautiful. It was sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

Briar spent a full ten minutes just staring at the glorious broom, before she gave it one last longing look and went off in search of the twins. When she finally found them they were hiding behind a statue of a witch, levitating an unsuspecting Hufflepuff's bag, who was screaming about an invisible ghost.

"Hey, guys" Briar greeted as she stopped behind them.

Fred and George jumped in surprise and whirled around, a loud bang sounding behind them and she leaned slightly to see that the bag had dropped onto the Hufflepuff, who had in turn fell to the floor and Briar suppressed a grin.

"Briar, hey!" Fred greeted, the tips of his ears reddening slightly in the embarrassment at getting caught unaware.

"Want to pull a prank on the Slytherins?" she asked with a mischievous smirk.

Fred and George shared a glance before they both grinned and said "Always" at the same time, making Briar's smirk widen.

"As long as it's the third year, they've been annoying us more than ever in charms" George said and Briar just nodded.

"That's fine, because I've got the perfect idea. We've been brewing aging potions in Potions and I happened to have nicked some of it" Briar told them, pulling out three veils of silvery liquid from her robes.

"Brilliant" Fred commented as he and George each took a veil from her.

At two in the morning Briar, Fred and George were creeping quietly through the castle, Briar had the marauder's map clasped in her hand and was carefully looking out for any prefects, Filch or Mrs Norris. It was a rather easy trip to the Slytherin common room during the dungeons and Briar could only hope that this prank went better than the last one they tried to pull on the Slytherins.

"Please say you actually know the password this time" Briar whispered to the twins as they came to a stop outside the common room.

"We're not going to forget the password" George said indignantly.

Briar raised a challenging brow at the two of them.

"Well, not again" Fred gave it and Briar chuckled quietly.

George moved to stand directly in front of the entrance and said clearly "Snake"

Briar wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes at the lack of imagination used when selected the passwords. The Slytherin prefects must be idiots, then again all Slytherins are idiots.

Briar stepped into the room and looked around as though she owned the place. The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was just burning out into small embers under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them. The far wall was a huge window that caused an ugly greenish glow to be set across the room and Briar swore she just saw a glimpse of the giant squid out of the corner of her eyes.

"Okay, you get two get the boys, I'll get the girls" Briar whispered.

"That might be a problem" Fred whispered.

George nodded in agreement "the spell on the girls Slytherin dorms is different than the Gryffindors it isn't just boys that can't get up, it's anyone who's not a Slytherin girl." He explained.

Briar smirked.

"Well, it's a good thing I have a secret weapon then isn't it?" Briar replied.

Fred and George looked at her questioningly, but she figured it would be more entertaining for her if she didn't bother explaining.

She gasped slightly as tingles exploded across her body and insides, animal hide sprouting where human skin once was and suddenly she was standing on the ground with four hooves rather than two feet. In her place was a beautiful you deer with brown speckles on her back, a white chest and wide, shining hazel eyes.

Bambi began to make her way to the steps up down to the dormitory, but couldn't resist a glance back. Fred and George were standing exactly where they had been with their eyes and mouths comically wide as they stared after her animal form. Bambi huffed a deer's version of a laugh and continued down the steps.

She only changed back one she had her hooves on the corridor and quickly made her way to the third year dorms. She could only hope that Fred and George had come out of their stupor to finish their share of the prank.

She crept as quietly as she could about the room, carefully stepping over any stray objects on the floor. The hardest part was quietly pulling back the green bed hangings in order to pour a tiny bit of the silver liquid on each other girls heads.

When she finished the last girl she turned to make her way out of the room when she tripped over a stray broom that she hadn't noticed before a curse loudly. She winced as she quickly stood up, the Slytherin girls, shifted their positions and one of them stopped snoring, but other than that made now movement to wake up.

Briar left quickly after that and shifted into her animagus form to run up the steps with silent hooves. When she got to the common room and changed back into her human form, she covered her mouth with her hand to smother her laughs as she grinned at her own brilliance and the adrenalin was still coursing through her veins at almost being caught.

Fred and George wouldn't stop staring at her when they ascended into the Slytherin common room and as soon as they were a safe distance from the common room and were instead in the middle of an abandoned hallway, the questioning began.

"What was that?!"

"What?!"

"You're an animagus?!"

"What?!"

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Just – What?!"

Briar laughed slightly at their completely bewildered, shocked and awed faces.

"Yes I'm an animagus, I was born one, and I didn't tell you because I'm unregistered and if the ministry caught wind of me I could get a few months in Azkaban" she shivered at the very thought of the dementors.

Fred and George stared at her for a few more minutes before grins bloomed on their face.

"Well, we have to say-" George started.

"-This could be very useful to us" Fred finished.

The three of them shared troublemaking smirks before making their way back to the Gryffindor common room. The next day they woke up early, eager to see the result of their prank, and the fact that Briar fell asleep in no less than three of her lessons was totally worth the look of rage on the elderly Slytherins' face as Snape roared in anger, but they couldn't prove who had done it since no one other than a Slytherin should have been able to get down the girls stairs. Sadly that meant Snape was even more vicious to the Gryffindors in potion lessons the next few days and Neville seemed to take the brunt of it. Merlin knew why he hated him so much.

A few months later on Halloween, Briar went to the owlry first thing in the morning to send her Uncle Moony a Happy Halloween letter as well as a pumpkin she had gotten off Hagrid and spelled it to explode once touched and inside of it was Honeydukes chocolate, he Uncle Moony's favourite.

there was a delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the hallways and Briar was instantly reminded why Halloween was her favourite holiday. However, usually every Holiday, which included, Halloween, Christmas and her parent's birthdays, her Uncle Moony took her to Godric's Hollow to visit her old home and her parent's graves and she felt slightly sad that she couldn't do that this year, or any other year for the next seven years on Halloween.

She was cheered up slightly when Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Briar was partnered with Harry (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch her eye). Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either Harry or Ron since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too…never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Briar found the spell extremely easy, although she supposed it was because Lee had taught it her so that they could both levitate water balloons off of the astronomy tower since they were bored and the twins were in detention with Professor Sprout. However, it seemed the same couldn't be said for Harry, he swished and flicked, but the feather he was supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop.

Briar got bored watching her twin fail dismally and instead was now levitating it around the class, tickling the back of peoples' necks then quickly moving it so no one could tell it was her. She had earned twenty points for Gryffindor being the first one to do it, but once professor Flitwick realised she was distracting other people, she lost ten of them. The professor had only noticed because Seamus had gotten so annoyed at the tickling, that he prodded his own feather with his wand and set fire to it and Neville, who was his partner, had to put it out with his hat.

Ron, at the next table, was having the same amount of luck with the spell as Harry was. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Briar heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa; make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Her feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry and Briar, as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past them. It was Hermione. Briar caught a glimpse of her face and was startled to see that she was in tears. Briar's face hardened at the sight of her friend crying, Briar wasn't nice, not really, but when it came to fellow Gryffindors, particularly her friends, she was extremely loyal.

"I think she heard you." Harry said looking in the direction Hermione had gone.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"You're a prat Ronald Weasley" Briar snarled, hitting him over the head with her charms book "and she does have a friend Ronald, she has me"

She glared one last time at the red head before she stormed off in the direction Hermione left in a silent rage. People quickly moved out the way as she marched down the hall, clearly noticing her furious expression and would rather not suffer Brair Potter's wand work.

She tried to keep up with Hermione but had lost sight of her and had to ask a portrait for the direction she went in before she set off again, running towards the girls bathroom on the first floor. As soon as she entered she could hear Hermione's cries and sniffled from the third stall.

"Hermione" she said softly, knocking on the door "'Mione are you going to come out? You're missing class and soon you'll miss the feast"

"No! Go away!" Hermione shouted, her voice cracking as she continued to cry.

"I'm not going away, so if you're not coming out then I guess I'm just going to have to wait out here for you" Briar paused hoping that the statement would draw 'Mione out, but she was just met with more cries.

Briar sighed and sat down on the floor, her back resting against the door to the stall and putting her back on her lap. She sat there in silence for a while, the only sound was Hermione's cries and the occasional drip of water from the sink opposite her. However, she had never liked silences and she started the get twitchy, it starts off with fiddling with her messy black hair, then jiggling her leg and when it got to the point where she was tapping a rhythm on the tiled floor, she decided to start talking about whatever was on her mind.

"You know, Halloween has always been my favourite holiday, and believe it or not it's not because of the candy or the opportunity to scare people" Briar said softly tilting her head back to rest on the door and she could tell Hermione was listening as her cries quietened and Briar hardly ever spoke about anything real so she supposed Hermione really wanted to hear this.

"Nine years ago to this day, my parents were killed, Harry defeated Voldemort and not soon after My Uncle Wormtail was killed and My Uncle Padfoot sent to Azkaban. A few years before that my Aunt Marlene and Aunt Dorcas were killed and that was around Halloween too. So many crappy things happen on this holiday that I just want to celebrate the strength it takes me and my Uncle Moony to just keep going and celebrate the fact that despite all the odds, we're alive" Briar began to explain.

I normally visit my parents graves and update them on everything that's been happening. Rather sad when you think about it. I also visit my Aunt Dorcas as well since she's buried in the same place. She's my godmother. Did I mention that? I suppose I didn't." Suddenly Briar's own cry broke the silence and she grasped as tears began to fall down her cheeks "I barely remember them, but I really, really miss them. I wish they were all here"

Briar dragged her wrist across her eyes to dry her tears on her robes.

The was a click as Hermione finally opened the door and Briar had to steady herself quickly when the support behind her back was removed. She glanced up to Hermione with teary eyes and quickly jumped to her feet.

Hermione opened her arms and Briar quickly did the same and they pulled each other into a tight hug. It seemed the situations had reversed, as now it was Briar crying into Hermione's bushy brown hair.

"I'm sorry" Hermione croaked "here I am crying about what some boy I barely know said, and you…you have it so much worse"

"It's okay." Briar whispered, pulling away so she could wipe away her tears. "Besides Ron's a prat" she joked, trying to lighten the mood and Hermione gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, he kind of it" Hermione agreed.

Briar smiled and was about to say something else when a foul smell hit her nose. It was like rotten eggs and sewers, or that time that she accidentally exploding the neighbours plumbing, to this day she's not sure how she did it, but either way it smelt really bad.

"Do you smell that?" Briar asked, wrinkling her nose.

Hermione nodded, reaching up her hand to pinch her nose. Briar's eyes were watering again, but this time it was because of the horrid smell.

Briar and Hermione turned at the same time as a loud thud sounded behind them by the door. They were met with a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, it's skin was a dull, granite colour, it's great lumpy body was like a boulder with ait's small, bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet.

The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, and then slouched slowly into the room.

It was a mountain troll.

The troll let out a mighty roar and Briar and Hermione screamed in response, quickly moving back until their backs were press up against the far wall, trying to get as far as possible away from it.

Briar quickly pulled out her wand and began to shoot every spell she knew at the troll trying to distract it or harm it in anyway, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect as the troll to slow, heavy steps towards them.

Briar's eyes widened I surprise as Harry and Ron burst through the door, eyes wide with fear and shock.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to all of them, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Briar and she breathed in a few shaky breathes, scared of getting squished by this horrid creature. She still had her wand held out in front of her defensively, she knew now that it wouldn't help much, but it made her feel marginally better.

It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. It's mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated and then made for her twin instead, lifting it's club as it went.

"Oi, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the room, and he threw a metal pipe at it.

The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting it's shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning it's ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" Briar and Harry yelled simultaneously, grabbing hold of Hermione, who had been cowering behind her in fear.

She attempted to pull Hermione towards the door, but it seemed as though she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror as she stared up at the troll.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Briar and Harry then did something very brave or very stupid, she liked to think it was very brave, they were Gryffindors after all. They looked at each other, communicating silently, before nodding and then they took a great running jump and managed to fasten their arms around the troll's neck from behind.

The Troll couldn't feel Briar and Harry handing there, but even a troll will notice if you tick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still be in his hand when he jumped…it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils. Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Briar and Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip them off or catch them a terrible blow with the club.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand…not knowing what he was going to do.

"Swish and flick" Briar yelled at him desperately, as her hold on the troll slipped so that she had to grab onto Harry instead, clinging to his waist with a scared grip..

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron cried.

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over…and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble. Briar and Harry got to their feet. They were both shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

Surprisingly, it was Hermione who spoke first. "Is it…dead?"

"I don't think so-" started Harry,

"-it's just been knocked out." Briar finished..

Harry bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Lovely" Briar said sarcastically her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Ugh…troll boogers." He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars.

A moment later, Minnie had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snivillus, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snivillus bent over the troll. Minnie was looking at Ron, Briar and Harry.

Even with all the stunts she had pulled with on her own or with the twins and Lee, Briar had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.

"Hey Minnie" Briar said, with a charming smile, she could occasionally talk Minnie out of a punishment, but she knew there was no way she was going to get out of trouble.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Minnie, ignoring Briar and with cold fury in her voice. Briar looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air, she gestured for Ron to put it down, but he seemed oblivious. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snivillus gave her and Harry a swift, piercing look. Briar glanced away not being able to stand looking into his cold black eyes and Harry looked at the floor. She wished Ron would put his wand down.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. "I went looking for the troll because I…I thought I could deal with it on my own…you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Briar distracted and attacked the troll, Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them, but weren't doing a very good job, only Briar seemed to be doing well at it, but then again she's had a lot of practice in the time they've been here.

"Well…in that case..." said Minnie, staring at the four of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head. For the first time in while Briar was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snivillus had started handing out sweets.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Minnie. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left.

Minnie turned to Harry, Briar and Ron. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

The three of them hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.

"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Briar sighed, she definitely agreed with Ron. Battling a fully groan mountain troll definitely deserved at least thirty five points..

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her and Bambi" Harry reminded him.

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them.

"Well what do you three have to say?" Briar smirked, putting her arm around them.

There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

"How heart-warming" Briar said dryly before heading off to sit with the twins.

However when she looked down the table she noticed that Hermione was deep in conversation with Harry and Ron. She smiled as she could tell that from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and apparently knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	8. Quidditch

Chapter Seven

_Quidditch_

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaver-skin boots.

Much to Briar's delight the Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, her brother, Harry, would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship. She hadn't seen Harry play yet since Oliver wouldn't let anyone not on the team on the pitch during practice because Wood had decided that, as his secret weapon, he should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and to be honest Briar wasn't in the least bit surprise.

Harry was lucky that he had finally became Hermione's friend as Briar doubted he would have been able to get through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making the tam do. Sadly, that meant that Briar and Lee had been hanging out and playing pranks without the twins, although it did give Briar a chance to get to know him better.

He didn't seem it, but it turned out that Lee was actually really smart and got mainly O's (Outstanding's) on all his homework, well except for potions, it seemed like much like Neville he was too nervous around Snivillus to do well. He also wasn't an only child like she first thought, he had a little sister and the way he talked about Holly you could tell he adored her, which Briar thought was the sweetest thing ever.

Briar had checked 'Quidditch through the Ages' out of the library to lend to Harry so she could keep her own copy, thinking her twin would probably appreciate the book much more than Hermione had. She loved the book, she really like reading about the seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved the two of from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it in Briar's opinion as she didn't have to suffer through as many lectures about her pranking now. The day before their first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam-jar.

They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snivillus crossed the yard. Briar frowned when she noticed that he was limping. Briar, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about the others' guilty faces caught Snivillus' eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" he sneered at Harry.

It was Quidditch through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snivillus. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"You can't just make rules up whenever you want to, Snivillus" Briar snapped in annoyance at her house losing points.

She didn't mind loosing points for mouthing off or pulling prance as she could usually gain them back for answering questions in class, but she didn't like losing points for no reason, and definitely not from Snivillus of all people.

"Detention, Potter" Snivillus snapped back, before limping away.

"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snivillus limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno," Ron shrugged.

"I hope it's really hurting him," Briar commented bitterly, glaring at Snivillus' retreating back.

The even Briar sat in the potions classroom for Snivillus' detention.

She was sitting on the middle front desk and Snape was sitting in front of her at his own desk, marking papers with an (obviously) black quill. The only sound were the scratching of his quill and he derisive snorts at some people's work. Why he decided to become a professor was behind her seeing how much he hated…well, everyone.

She twirled her wand languidly in her long fingers as she looked at him broadly, slouched down in her chair. A second later a small smirk appeared on her face as an idea hit her. She pointed her wand at Snivillus' desk and muttered an incantation.

Snivillus' desk shuddered, causing him to glance towards her with narrowed, suspicious black eyes. However, she had already school her features back into her bored expression and returned to twirling her wand. She raised a dark brow at him questioningly. He glared at her for a few more moments before he gave up and looked back down at the parchment he was marking.

Just as the tip of his quill touched the parchment the desk sprung to life and took a few steps away from him with its wooden legs.

"Oh, Snivelly, I love you, oh yes I do!" the table shouted in a feminine singing voice.

Snivillus quickly got to his feet and took a step toward Briar, who was now grinning widely, his eyes flashing with rage.

"POTTER!" he roared "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Snivillus, you're so hot when you're angry" the table purred and Briar bit her lip to stop her from snickering.

"I thought you could do with some more love in your life, Snivillus" Briar replied with a smirk and twinkling hazel eyes, which if anything infuriated the Potions Master even more than her words had.

Snivillus opened his mouth, probably to shout some more, but the table was still shouting words of love, so he whirled on the table instead "SHUT UP!" he shouted at the object.

Briar snickered, now he was shouting at tables, what she would give to have a camera with her right now. The tabled shuddered and quietened. Snivillus shot her a triumphant sneer but his eyes narrowed when the smirk didn't leave her face.

The table suddenly quaked again and let out a wailing sob before it stormed towards Snivillus' office shouting "I will not come back until you apologize!"

Snape whirled on her again, he billowing clock swishing dramatically as he did "GET OUT!"

"Yes, sir" she smiled sweetly, but as soon as she was out of the classroom a grin bloomed on her face and she began to whistles, walking down the hallway with a skip in her step, that was how you get out of detention.

Later that even, Briar met up with Lee in order for him to get revenge on Snivillus for giving him a P (Poor) on his potions homework and the Weasley twins were in detention with Minnie. Lee animated one of the suits of armour to stand outside the door of the staffroom, where they knew Snivillus was thanks to the Marauder's map, and then put a spell on it to follow him once he left and then the two of them hid around the corner, wanting to see the action.

"So, got anymore letters from home lately?" Briar asked him curiously as she leant against the stone wall.

"Yeah" Lee said with a huge smile that made Briar's own lips turn up when she looked at him. "Holly got in trouble for putting paint her primary school teacher's chair, I'm so proud. If only she was a witch, then she in three years she would be coming to Hogwarts and we could cause trouble together"

Briar smiled the clear adoration in his voice as he spoke of eight year old sister.

"What about your grandmother? Has she been doing okay?" Briar instantly felt bad about the question when the smile slowly fell from Lee's face, it looked odd for him to be doing something other than grinning or smirking.

Lee's grandmother, Fiona Jordon, was diagnosed with breast lung cancer when Lee was only six, she had been slowly recovering, but when his grandpa Paul died three years ago, her disease started to go downhill again.

"It's not looking too well, according to my mum she's not even allowed out of the hospital now" Lee said sadly.

Briar bit her lip and stared at him for a moment and felt bad that she was so bad t comforting people.

Luckily she didn't have to come up with something to say to him as she heard Snivillus' voice from around the corner shout "POTTER!"

Briar shared a glance with Lee before they both cursed in unison thinking they had been caught and leaned to peek their heads around the corner, luckily they could both see since Lee was about two heads taller than her.

However, it seemed they had been caught out, at least not yet. Snivillus was standing in front of her twin, his pale face twisted with fury.

She saw her twin gulp and say something in reply, but they couldn't hear from where he and Lee were, but Snivillus seemed to ignore her brother anyway and began to stalk down the hallway in their direction and they quickly leaned back so they were out of sight but could still see Snivillus.

The suit of armour besides the staffroom suddenly sprung to life, making Harry jump, and began to follow Snivillus. He clearly noticed something was following him as Snivillus sung around, but as soon as he did the suit of armour leapt to stand beside the wall and froze. This happened twice more before he neared the corner.

"Quick, run!" Lee hissed to her as Snivillus began to round the corner and she nodded with a grin as they began to leg it.

"POTTER! JORDON!" roared Snivillus behind them and she and Lee let out a laugh and didn't stop running, if he couldn't catch them he couldn't give them detention.

The next morning, Briar was grinning widely he legs jiggling with excitement, looking forward to a good Quidditch match. According to Lee the Gryffindor vs Slytherin matches were always the most entertaining and the most vicious. It was very bright and cold, which was a good thing as it was perfect Quidditch weather since it meant there would be good visibility and the ground would be hard with the cold making it easy to kick off. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter.

Briar piled her plate high with food and wolfed it down, Ron doing the same beside her as Hermione eyed them distastefully from opposite them beside Harry. She frowned when she noticed that her twin wasn't eating, he was just staring down at his empty plate with a pale face and nervous green eyes.

"You've got to eat some breakfast" Briar told him after swallowing a mouthful of bacon.

"I don't want anything" Harry said, not looking up from the empty gold plate in front of him.

"Just a bit of toast" wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not Hungry" Harry insisted.

Briar frowned as she ate a hash brown. Just from looking at Harry's face she could tell he felt terrible seeing as his face was identical to hers, but she couldn't understand why. In an hours' time the Gryffindor team would be making their way to the field, he should be excited!

"Harry, you need your strength" said Seamus Finnigan from their left "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team"

Briar nodded, not being able to speak since her mouth was full, he wasn't wrong.

"Thanks, Seamus" said Harry dryly as he watched him pile ketchup on his sausages.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Briar, Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham football fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, the other first years had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours. Briar didn't quite understand the saying, but according to Hermione and Dean it was a Muggle thing.

Briar had a red and gold scarf adorned with the Gryffindor crest around her neck and she held a corner of Harry's banner in hand, waiting for the team to come out and the game to start for them to hold it up. She had joined her fellow first years at the stand since Fred and George were also on the team and Lee was commentating. Briar could believe that Minnie had allowed that to happen. A Gryffindor wouldn't be unbiased, certainly not Lee Jordon of all people.

"This is going to be great!" Briar told Hermione excitedly. "the twins said the matches against Slytherin were the best!"

"I just hope Harry will be okay, everything I read about it makes it seem extremely dangerous" Hermione replied worriedly, looking down at the pitch warily.

Briar rolled her eyes.

"Of course it's dangerous, that's one of the things that makes it so brilliant!" Briar exclaimed, Ron nodding in agreement to her right as Hermione shot them disapproving looks.

"PLEASE WELCOME THE TEAMS ONTO THE PITCH!" Lee's voice came loudly.

Briar screamed herself hoarse with the other's clapping her hands as she caught sight of Fred and George, Harry, brooms in hands, following closely behind them.

"Quick, get the banner up" Hermione hissed and Briar nodded whipping out her wand at the same time as Hermione and they both performed a charm to make it levitate above their heads.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you" Madam Hooch, who was refereeing, said once both teams were gather around her in a flurry of red and green.

Briar noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. She thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him, and seeing as how dumb Fred and George told her he was she wouldn't be surprised.

"Mount Your brooms please" Madam Hooch said and both teams quickly clambered onto their brooms.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor…what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too…" Lee's voice began, but was quickly interrupted by Minnie's loud scolding voice.

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor" Lee said, not in the least bit apologetic "And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnett, who is looking very lovely today if I do say so myself…"

"JORDAN, COMMANTATE THE GAME INSTEAD OF FLIRTING WITH PLAYERS!"

"Alright, alright…back to Johnson and…no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes…Flint flying like an eagle up there…he's going to sc-no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle…that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and…OUCH…that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger…Quaffle taken by the Slytherins…that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger…sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which…nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes…she's really flying…dodges a speeding Bludger…the goal posts are ahead …come on, now, Angelina…Keeper Bletchley dives…misses…GRYFFINDORS SCORE!" Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!" Briar, Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet"

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, before raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry.

"Who wants to keep out of trouble?" Briar scoffed "I'd rather see some action.

Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. She figured that was good game plan on Wood's part, he would be able to look over the whole pitch and stay out of the way of the chasers and Bludgers.

She smiled softly at Harry being a seeker on the team. If he was even half as good as Uncle Moony told her their dad was, then Gryffindor would surely win the game.

Briar cheered loudly when Bell scored and saw that Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings, she really wished she could be up there and flying with him. Now Harry was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, but she was glad to see that Harry dodged it and Fred went chasing after it and beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint

"Slytherin in possession," Lee was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the…wait a moment…was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear. Briar cheered loudly with the other Gryffindor as Harry streaked towards where she guessed the snitch was, but unfortunately it seemed Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch…all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.

"Come on Harry!" Briar screamed loudly, clapping her hands.

Harry was faster than Higgs, she watched with bated breath when he put on an extra spurt of speed…WHAM! Briar roared angrily and the other Gryffindors did the same around her…Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"FOUL!" Briar screamed angrily.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again and Briar sighed in disappointment, glaring angrily at Flint.

On the other side of Ron, Dean was yelling "Send him off, red! Red card!" and Briar and Ron both turned to look at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.

"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

"But this isn't football, Dean," Briar reminded him with a roll of her eyes.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side. "They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air"

"Are you kidding?" Briar asked looking up at Hagrid "What Flint did was out of line, but half the excitement comes from the fouls"

Lee was already finding it difficult not to take sides. "So…after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul' Jordan, I'm warning you…"

"All right, all right, Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure" he said and Briar laughed loudly "so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Johnson, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

She watched as Bell sped towards the hoops, Quaffle in arm, but out of the corner of the eye she caught Harry dodging a stray Bludger before he did a weird, sudden lurch on his broom. Briar bit her lip as he looked like he was about to topple off of his broom, she liked excitement, but the idea of her twin, he only family member she knew left, getting hit overruled that.

Briar gasped as Harry's broom seemed to give another lurch. She frowned in confusion, it looked almost like his broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off, no broom did, it was a physical impossibility. Harry's broom was now zigzagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated her brother.

As Briar focused on her brother, Lee was still commentating. "Slytherin in possession…Flint with the Quaffle…passes Black…passes Bell…hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose…only joking, Professor…Slytherins score…A no..."

The Slytherins were cheering. No one other than her seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying-him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.

George was quite close to her on his broom so she shouted to get his attention "GEORGE! Help Harry!"

George looked at her curiously before he looked over to Harry and his eyes widened in shock, he quickly waved over Fred and they began to make their way after Harry, but his broom was swinging around the pitch so widely it was hard for them to catch up.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom... But he can't have..."

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Briar gasped in unison with the crown and gripped Ron and Hermione's arms tightly on either side of her. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"Can't have," Briar said, her voice shaking slightly with worry for her brother. "Can't anything interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic…no one still in Hogwarts could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape…look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars and looked towards the stands towards Snivillus before giving them to Briar. She grabbed them quickly. Snivillus was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath.

"Snivillus" Briar growled angrily as she handed the binoculars back to Ron.

"He's doing something…jinxing the broom" said Hermione.

"What should we do?" Ron asked her quickly.

"Leave it to me" Briar and Ron shared a glance, but before they could question Hermione, she had disappeared.

Harry's broom seemed to be vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified. Briar was pale, her hands shaking slightly. Fred and George had finally caught up to him and tried to pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good, every time they got close to him, Harry's broom would jumper higher still.

Fred and George dropped lower and circle beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if she fell and Briar had never felt so grateful towards anyone.

"Come on, Hermione" Briar and Ron muttered desperately as they kept their eyes locked on Harry.

When Hermione returned to their side she was holding a jar of fire, but Briar was too focused on Harry to question it. Harry's broom suddenly stabilized and he pulled himself back onto it.

Briar sighed in relief and hugger Hermione tight "You did it!"

She pulled way and looked back up at the game.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said beside her as Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Harry was now speeding toward the ground and Briar frowned when she saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick… he hit the field on all fours…coughed …and something fell into his hand, Briar caught a small glimpse of gold.

"I've got the Snitch!" Harry suddenly shouted, waving it above his head triumphantly.

Briar was completely confused but she cheered loudly anyway as one thing she did know was that Gryffindor had just won the first game of the season, and again Slytherin!

"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference…Harry hadn't broken any rules and Briar could hear Lee still happily shouting the results….Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty.

Soon after Briar was in Hagrid's hut with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hagrid having handed each of them a cup of strong tea as they warmed up beside the fire. Briar and Hermione were sharing one of the armchairs, both of them easily fitting in it with their feet unable to touch the floor.

"It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "Hermione, Briar and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands.

"I know what I saw, but as much as I hate Snivillus, why would he do something like that?" Briar asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Harry suddenly shared a glance with Ron and Hermione and Briar looked at them in confusion, wondering what they were hiding.

"I found out something about him," Harry told her and Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Briars brows rose in surprise. Where was she when they had worked all that out? She was eyeing them questioningly before she jumped when Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

Briar smiled. She thought that name suited the three-headed dog perfectly. When she had stroked him he was softer than Onyx's feathers, and she could only assume he was even softer when he was a puppy.

"Fluffy? That's a great name" Briar said making Hagrid beam.

"Yeah…he's mine…bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year…I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the…"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it." Ron protested.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher; he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione, Briar's eyes rose in surprise again, she never thought she would hear Hermione talking bad about a teacher "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid; I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh…yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel…"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself, and quickly sent Briar, Harry, Hermione and Ron on their way. When they were half way across the grounds towards the castle, Briar put her arm out to stop the other three from walking.

"Okay, you three need to fill me in on what's happening." Briar told them firmly, crossing her arms.

They were off, explaining all of their suspicions. Apparently when she had seen Harry talking to Snivillus when she and Lee were pranking him, he had Seen Snape with a large bite on his leg and that was why he had been limping. They figured he was trying to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween, since he and Ron and seen him wandering around.

"What so he let the troll in as a diversion?" Briar frowned and the other three nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape wants it" Harry replied.

Briar couldn't see why Snivillus would do that. He worked for Dumbledore, who knew almost everything, she doubted Snivillus of all people would be able to fool the greatest wizard of all time.

"R-right" she dragged out the word sceptically. "Well I've got detention with Hagrid, I'll see you later" Briar lied.

The other three sighed, obviously seeing that she didn't quite believe their theories before they turned and began to leave and Briar walked in the direction they had come from intent to go to the forest. She didn't actually have a detention, with all the worrying she did in the game she just wanted to let off some steam.

She he looked about her surrounding checking she was alone and when she saw that she was she shifted into her animagus form, rolling the deer's shoulders back in content, she felt at one with herself. Bambi looked about the grounds with new eyes, everything seeming to come into sharp focus, and new smell, she could smell the pine trees from the forest even from here.

Bambi reared back onto her hind legs and began to gallop to the forest. She didn't stop running once she reached the trees just continuing deep into the forest, revelling in the wind in her pale brown fur, the twigs of the trees whipping either side of her and the leaves on the ground crunched under her hooves.

She only slowed down to a walk when she reached a small river and began to walk through it, kicking up water with her hooves happily. The trees around her were so dense that she couldn't see very far.

Bambi stopped playing in the water when the sound of pounding hooves, hooves that weren't hers, reached her ears, which perked up in response, she straightened to her full height and tilted her head in confusion.

Suddenly the branches of the trees in front of her broke apart when a pearly white unicorn burst through, running faster than she had seen anything move, it's blue eyes wild and its silvery hair whipping in the wind. Bambi barely had enough time to leap out of the way as it barrelled past her and she looked after it in confusion. What could make a unicorn that terrified?

Her head tilted when she heard a weird snuffling sound. It was similar to a cloak moving across a ground. She looked towards the trees where the unicorn had come from and saw a horrible sight. She crouched back slightly in fear and her ears flattened against her head. A hooded figure had come out of the trees, crawling on the ground, stalking forward like some crazed beast.

Bambi stared at for a moment transfixed, before she took a terrified step backwards. However, her hooved foot caused a twig to snap behind her and the hooded figures head snapped towards her. Bambi caught sight of glinting evil eyes before she turned tail and began to gallop as fast as she possibly could back through the trees and towards the Hogwarts ground.

She didn't stop running or look back until she was a quarter of the way back to the castle, and Hagrid hut and the forest were slightly smaller due to the distance. Her white chest was heaving with breathes and wild hazel eyes looked at the entrance of the forest looking for any sign of the hood figure, but saw nothing but a dark expanse of trees.

When her breath slowed and the adrenalin left her system, Bambi turned back to herself, sweat slicked skin erupting where animal hide had vanished. Briar licked her lips and looked at the forest curiously, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She was starting to think she had imagine the whole thing, because that wasn't natural.

She took one last glance at the forest before turning around and heading back to the castle, putting the strange hooded creature to the back of her mind.


	9. Mirror of Erised

Chapter Eight

_Mirror of Erised_

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and Briar and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again, which included Onyx so Briar decided not to send anymore letters to Uncle Moony until the snow stopped.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. Briar certainly couldn't, she was going home to visit her Uncle Moony after months of not seeing him.

While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Snivillus' classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons. Bria had attempted to do a warming charm, but she ended up losing points for using a wand in Potions, which she thought was extremely unfair.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He was looking over at Harry as he spoke.

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled.

Briar, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them, but couldn't resist glaring at them as she gritted her teeth. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

It was true that Harry was staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. Briar had invited him to come home with her, but he had already signed the list that Minnie came around with the week before for those who are staying at Hogwarts. Briar felt extremely guilty that she didn't think to ask soon, but Harry told her not to worry about it. he said that he would have fun at Hogwarts, especially since the Weasley siblings were staying too, because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

Briar hadn't been spending much time with Harry, Hermione and Ron lately as they had been spending all their free time looking for any information on what Fluffy could be guarding. They had dragged her with them, but she had gotten so board that she acciod all the books so that they all pelted towards her to get her kicked out by a furious Madam Pince. Hermione had agreed that she didn't have to come after that.

When the start of the holidays came, Briar was finishing packing up her stuff in her dorm room, the other three girl having left to catch the Hogwarts express home.

She had already said goodbye to the Weasley, Lee and Harry so when she finally closed her trunk and the clasped click shut, she called for Zingy.

"Is Mistress Bambi ready to go, miss?" Zingy asked in her usual squeaky voice and her tennis ball sized blue eyes even wider than usual at the thought of being able to work in a Potter's household again.

"Yeah, Zingy, let's go home" Briar told the house elf with a smile.

She grabbed one of the metal handles of her trunk with her left hand and held Zingy's hand with her right. They disappeared from the dorm with a crack, house elves being able to apparate from Hogwarts since their magic is different that Witch's and Wizard's. House elf apparition was slightly more pleasant than side along with her Uncle Moony, but it still had that horrible stomach clenching sensation.

A second later another crack reached her ears and she was standing in front of her child hood home, the familiar hole still in the roof, all though it seemed her Uncle Moony had bordered it up with mismatched pieces of wood, and the ivy that covered half of the walls.

Having heard the crack of apparition the front do of the house was thrown open to reveal her uncle Moony standing in the doorway, a huge smile lighting up his scarred face.

"Uncle Moony!" Briar shouted, abandoning her trunk and Zingy, to run at her godfather.

She launched herself into his arms, rapping her arms around his shoulders and the werewolf laughed, spinning her around.

"It's great to see you Bambi" Her uncle Moony said into her messy hair "I've missed you"

Briar pulled back out of the hug and he placed her back down on the ground.

She grinned up at him and said "I missed you too"

Uncle Moony gave her a soft smile and ruffled her hair, making her faux glare at him as she ruffled her black locks into a position she allowed.

"Ahh, you must be Zingy" said Uncle Moony looking past her.

Briar turned around to see that Zingy was now standing right in front of them, Briar's trunk levitating next to her.

"Zingy is pleased to meet Master Lupin" Zingy said happily, bowing deeply until her nose almost brushed the uneven path, her pink hat looking strange in the scenery.

"Well, it's great to meet you two Zingy, Bambi has told me a lot about you" Uncle Moony told the house elf kindly.

Zingy straightened and grinned up at her and Uncle moony with sparkling blue eyes, clearly pleased with the comment.

They entered the house after that and Zingy looked about the place, tutting at all the mess and mismatched objects and insisted on cleaning the entire house. While Zingy did that Briar spent the time talking to Uncle Moony, filling him in about how much she enjoyed Hogwarts and describing all of her friends to him. She also told him a lot about what Harry had been up to, knowing without having to ask that he would like to know about her brother.

A lot of what she told him she had already written in letters, but Uncle Moony listened anyway, missing having her talking to him.

She also had him fill her in on the jobs he had since she left and what he had been eating, she was displeased to hear that he had hardly been eating anything other than beans on toast, but on the upside it seemed his job at the apothecary was actually going as well as he said, and it was in fact the job he had had the longest.

When she retired to her bedroom since Uncle Moony noticed she was falling asleep in her seat, she was shocked to see that Zingy had cleaned her room until it was spotless. (She could actually see the floor!)

The rest of the holiday was spent with mindless chatter, and actually being able to have nice meals since Zingy cooked them, it was strange seeing the cupboards and fridge filled with food since the house elf went grocery shopping.

Closer to Christmas time Briar sent Zingy on a trip to Diagon Alley to buy the Christmas presents she wanted to get everyone while she and Uncle Moony dank eggnog and laughed together as they put up a small Christmas tree in the living room. A lot of the baubles were old Potter heirlooms, fancy golden ones with glittery swirls, some with moving pictures of different ancestors, all with messy black hair and knobbly knees.

She was pleased to see that she had gotten a letter from Hermione, the twins, Harry and Ron that day too, each with a package that wasn't to be opened until Christmas, except Harry, who apologized for not being able to get anything.

_Dear Briar Rose,_

_I hope you're having a great holiday! How's it going with you godfather? Are you visiting your parents graves soon? I'm guessing you are since you said you always do. _

_My holiday is going well so far. I've finished all my homework of course. My Aunt Jean and Uncle Andrew came by yesterday with my cousin Kelsey, they'll be staying until Christmas so we can have Christmas dinner together. _

_So far me and Kelsey spent our time watching Christmas Movies on TV (like moving pictures with sound about people's Christmas times) and my parents took us to watch the carollers in the square, it was great!_

_My Nana and Granddad will be coming by tomorrow, I can't wait, I haven't seen them for such a long time! My Granddad always tells me stories about world war II (a muggle war) and my nana gives me the most fascinating books. _

_Merry Christmas! Write back soon! _

_Love Hermione xx_

_**Dear Bambi, **_

_**Merry Christmas! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get you a present, I'll get you something great for our next birthday. **_

_**I know you feel bad that I couldn't come home with you, but this has been the best Christmas of my life, much better than being with the Dursleys. Me and Ron have the dormitory to ourselves and the common room is far emptier than usual so we can actually get the good armchairs by the fire. **_

_**We spend most of our time sitting by the fire and eating anything we can spear on a toasting fork, bread, English muffins, marshmallows, and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which was fun to talk about even if most of the wouldn't work. **_

_**Ron started teaching me Wizard Chess, he's great at it, but I'm awful, I think I best stick to Quidditch. **_

_**The food in the Great Hall has been even better than usual, I'm sure you'd love it. **_

_**I hope you're having a great time with Remus!**_

_**I miss you, Love Harry x**_

_To Bambi, _

_**Fred decided we should start calling you Bambi since now we know the reason for the nickname. **__By the way we still can't believe you didn't tell us sooner, think of all the pranks we missed out on in that time!_

_**Christmas is going great! **__Me and George bewitched all the Portraits to sing Christmas Carols as people pass. __**It was epic! **__Yeah, Filch was furious, his face did that thing where it turns purple. __**Are you having a good time with your Uncle Moony? **__I bet you are, he's a marauder after all. __**Which we are still jealous about, we can't believe you get to live with one of the Famous Marauders, they are our heroes. **_

_The first present is from our mum, we told her a lot about you and she felt the need to send you a present. __**it's probably a Weasley sweater. **__George don't tell her! __**Oh you can tell just by picking the present up. **_

_**Anyway, Merry Christmas!**_

_We miss you!_

_From Forge __**and Gred**_

_Dear, Briar_

_Merry Christmas! Are you having a good holiday? You have to right me about it! _

_The whole families over right now, the house it like a war zone. My alcoholic uncle is annoying everyone and my cousins have already had eight – no wait – they're at it again, nine fights. My mum has gotten to the hair pulling stage, I know it won't be soon until she blows up. She's the nicest woman, but she got a right temper. _

_My dad spent the drive home telling everything that I should have been doing at Muggle School. I didn't understand a thing he said, but I memorised it anyway. _

_We visited my Grandmother a couple of days ago, she's gotten worse, I don't think she'll last much longer._

_On the upside, Holly's having a great time, she has so many more people to prank with the whole family here. It's so interesting seeing muggle pranks. _

_Oh! I've got to go, I think one of my aunts has burnt the dinner._

_Right back soon!_

_From Lee_

_**Dear Briar,**_

_**Aare you having a good Christmas? Everything is great here.**_

_**Happy Christmas**_

_**Ron**_

"Eloquent as always Ron" Briar chuckled as she put the letter into the draw of her bedside table and gathered the presents into her arms to put under the tree.

She had already sent Onyx on her way with everyone's gifts and letters, so when she got down stairs she went to sit in the living room, where her uncle Moony was. They were celebrating Christmas today, December 23rd, since the full moon fell on Christmas this year and Uncle Moony would probably spend Christmas eve in bed hopped up on pain relieving potions.

Before she opened any presents, Uncle Moony was taking her to Godric's Hollow to visit her parent's graves. That was why she was dressed in her best robes, navy with a silver trim, and she grabbed a bouquet of lilies from the Muggle town a few streets over and a snitch from quality Quidditch Supplies to put at their graves, as well as a single Rose for her godmother.

"Are you ready to go, Bambi?" Uncle Moony asked solemnly.

Briar just nodded in reply and gripped his outstretched arm tight so that they could disappear with a crack.

As soon as they got to Godric's Hollow, she went to her Aunt Dorcas' grave so that she could give her Uncle Moony some time alone with her parents. Aunt Dorcas' grave was situated next to one with the name 'Gideon Prewett', who was her boyfriend and 'Fabian Prewett' who was his twin brother. She was pretty sure they were related to the Weasley's somehow.

_Dorcas Marie Meadows_

_1962-1981_

_Loyal Until The End_

"Hey, Aunt Dorcas" Briar said softly as she placed the rose on the snow in front of the grave. "I hope you and Gideon are having a good time in Heaven…or wherever it is we go when we die"

She was quiet for a moment and just stared at the head stone before she started to talk again.

"Two of my best friends are Fred and George Weasley and Harry's best friend is their younger brother, Ron, I'm pretty sure they're related to Gideon and Fabian somehow" Briar said, she was quiet again for a while, not being able to think of something to say before she just said a quiet "I miss you" her hazel eyes brimming with tears.

She jumped when a hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see her Uncle Moony behind her. His brown eyes were sad and red rimmed, but she didn't say anything. She gave a small smile to her Uncle Moony and wandered over to her parents graves, leaving him alone with Dorcas.

"Hey mum, hey dad" she told their graves, placing the lilies and the snitch in the snow at their grave.

Their grave was made out of white marble that shone in the darkness. The headstone had been engraved with her mum and dad's dates of birth and death and the message '_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'. _

Briar thought the quote was perfect for her parents. It was taken from Corinthians 15:26 in a muggle book called the Bible, which discuss' someone called Jesus defeating all enemies, the last being death itself. She thought it symbolizes how even in death they were fighting Voldemort, they had destroyed Voldemort with their last fight.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit on Halloween this year, I was at Hogwarts" Briar said with a small smile and she sat down in front of the grave, paying now mind to snow freezing her through her fancy robes. "It's as great as I always thought it would be. I'm doing good in school, Transfiguration with Minnie is my favourite lesson, I don't like Herbology, I'm awful at it. Dad, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know I've had lots of detention for causing trouble and playing pranks, mostly with Snivillus, the git, sorry mum, I know you were a prefect"

Briar smiled at the grave.

"Oh! My friends Fred and George Weasley found your map by the way, they've caused a lot of mischief with it. they're great friends, you'd really like them, they're beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I also made friends with Lee Jordon, another prankster. One friend you'd probably like mum is Hermione Granger, she's a muggle born and extremely smart. Harry's best friend is Ron Weasley, Fred and George's brother. They're basically inseparable, probably how you were with uncle Padfoot. He's still in Azkaban by the way"

"Dad, you'll be pleased to know that Harry's on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he's a seeker just like you and he's brilliant. He won the first match against Slytherin. It's great being with Harry again, like I actually have a family, not just Uncle Moony"

Briar quietened and closed her eyes tight as tears fell down her cheeks, a sob tearing up her throat and releasing itself from her lips. She reopened her eyes, blurry with tears, and gently touched her parent's names with the tips of her fingers.

"I really, I really miss you. I wish you were here" she cried, retracting her hand and hugging herself.

Briar stayed like that for a while, just hunched in front of her parent's grave, crying her eyes out. Her uncle Moony came up behind her and as soon as she felt his gentle fingers on her shoulder she hopped to her feet and pulled him into a tight hugging, crying into his chest.

He rested his head on hers and she could feel his tears wetting her cheek as he too cried at the losses of the Wizarding War.

"Come on, Bambi. Let's go home" Remus croaked.

Briar pulled away with a nodded and took in a deep breath to stop herself from crying and scrubbed at her face to get rid of the tears. She forced a small smile at Uncle Moony before she grabbed onto his arm so that he could apparate them home.

Just as it was every year there was a sombre silence when they got home, and they sat on the settee with Uncle Moony's arm around her. Zingy seemed to sense the need for silence as she sat next to them in silence.

It wasn't until two hours had past when they finally began to make a sound and Uncle Moony decided it was time for them to open presents.

She hoped her friends like their present. She had gotten a leather bound book that she had filled with all the different stories her uncle Moony has told her about their parents. For Hermione she had gotten a book about Wizard history knowing how much she enjoyed to read, for Ron she had gotten Honeydukes chocolate and she had gotten Fred, George and Lee care packages from Zonkos and a huge sweater for Hagrid.

Uncle Moony opened his present from her, which was a selection of books on several different topic and a huge box of Honeydukes chocolate. She had gotten Zingy a nice pink sweater and flimsy white shorts, which caused the elf to burst into tears and went on a rant for ten minutes about how grateful she was and what such a good Mistress Briar was.

Briar then began to open her own present. She had gotten a book about magical creatures from Hermione, who knew how much she loved to read about them. From Ron she had gotten a box of chocolate frogs, she had gotten Zonkos products in return from Fred, George and Lee and she had gotten flute that Hagrid had whittled from wood, which sounded a lot like Onyx hooting.

She opened the lump package that was from Mr and Mrs Weasley. A second later she was wearing a warm cream sweater that had a red 'B' knitted into the front and tried the fudge that was also in the present. It was good too.

Finally she moved onto the two presents from uncle Moony. The first one was thin and flat.

"It isn't much, but I think you'll appreciate it" her uncle Moony told her with twinkling eyes.

She looked at him questioningly before she quickly ripped the blue paper off of the present. her hazel eyes widened when she saw what lay within. It was a seemingly blank piece of parchment.

"Is this what I think it is?" Briar asked eagerly.

Uncle Moony didn't answer, instead just pulled out his wand, pointed it at the map and said "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Immediately ink began to swirl on the yellowish paper and was met by the familiar drawing of the Whomping Willow and the words 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs are Proud to Present the Marauder's Map'. It was the second Marauder's map that they had made since they planned for the other one to get confiscated.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Briar chanted throwing herself at her uncle Moony and hugging him.

"You're welcome, Bambi" Uncle Moony laughed, using his wand to wipe the map clean. "open you're next present he told her, handing her a rectangular gift covered in scarlet paper.

She hurriedly ripped off the papers and her breath stalled in her lungs when she saw what is inside and she gently moved the torn paper off of the gift. It was a photo surrounded by an intricate gold frame.

Her Uncle Padfoot was grinning haughtily at her from the right side of the photo, his silky black hair fell into his grey eyes and occasionally he looked down at the woman he had his arm around, she had brown curls, and a freckled face, it was her Aunt Marlene.

On the left hand side she saw the familiar scarred face of her Uncle Moony, however his brown eyes were lighter and happier than she had ever seen them, he was laughing at the sceptical next to him. Her Aunt Dorcas was laughing madly as her Uncle Wormtail tickled her, his watery blue eyes glancing at the camera now and again.

In the centre of the picture her dad, his black hair as messy as her and Harry's and hazel eyes the same as her own sparkling behind round framed glasses and he turned and grinned broadly at her uncle Padfoot as her mum, dark red hair, freckles and emerald eyes, kissed his cheek.

In her mum and dad's arms were her and Harry, since they were only about one her hair was the same length as Harry's and the only reason she could tell them apart was the different colour eyes.

A drop of water fell onto her mum's face and she looked at in confusion before she reached a hand up to her face and she realised she was crying.

She wiped her face quickly and said a small earnest "thank you" to her Uncle Moony, and she knew this picture would be going on her bedside table soon.

The next day Briar spent most of the day trying to get Zingy to play in the snow with her and occasionally checked in on her uncle Moony, who spent the day in bed, but she didn't check on him too often as he tended to get extra snappy near a full moon.

When the full moon came Briar shifted into Bambi and was standing in the corner of her Uncle Moony's bedroom, the doe's hazel eyes shut tight as her Uncle Moony's screams reached her ears as he thrashed the transformation underway.

After an agonizing hour and a half the screams turned into low animalistic growls and a howl ripped through the air, she finally opened her eyes. She was met with the sight of a grey wolf, about the same size as Bambi with a black nose and sharp claws on his paws.

Moony's muzzle wrinkle as he barred his teeth in a growl, Bambi backed away in surprise and it was only then that she noticed the wolf's glowing hazel eyes didn't contain her Uncle Moony's humanity as it had since he started taking the Wolfsbane potion, instead just the vicious beast.

She approached Moony slowly, her hooves clicking on the wooden floor. The wolf seemed to pause for a moment, before it sniffed her and let out a whine, as it realised she was ally that it must have recognized since she was similar to Prongs.

Bambi spent the rest of the night alternating between playing chase with Moony around the house, keeping him away from her room, so that a lot of the furniture got smash up, and using sharp kicks with her powerful legs to stop Moony from clawing and biting himself since he couldn't smell any humans around.

When the full moon was finally over, Briar was sitting in the one chair in the kitchen that wasn't smashed to smithereens as Zingy bandaged up the slashes on her stomach and arm, which she was sure were going to scar, as the house elf had insisted on seeing to her wound before she would use her house elf magic to fix up the house.

When Zingy had just finished bandaging her left forearm, Uncle Moony stumbled into the kitchen. When he caught sight of the bandage on her arm, and her stomach since she didn't pull her top back on quick enough, he gritted his teeth, his eyes swimming with guilt and self-hate.

"Don't" Briar said firmly, not paying any attention to Zingy going into the living room to fix the torn up settee. "Don't blame yourself for this, it wasn't your fault. You weren't in your right mind"

"Yes it was. I'm a werewolf Briar" she flinched at her given name coming out of his mouth "you're going to go back to Hogwarts for the rest of the holiday"

"WHAT?!" Briar shouted in shock "Why? The full moon is over now!"

"I don't care. I'm dangerous. Zingy's going to take you back to Hogwarts and I'm going to try and find a new supplier for the Wolfsbane potion. This is the second time this has happened and this time I hurt you. Hopefully it will be better by the summer, if not I'll have to find someone else you can stay with"

"You're being ridiculous!" Briar shouted at him in annoyance, leaping to her feet, but she winced as it tugged on the wound on her stomach, which only made her Uncle Moony's resolve harden.

That was why later that day she found herself back at Hogwarts and had gotten questioned by all her friends on why she was back early and the bandage on her arm (luckily they couldn't see the one on her stomach). She had lied and told them she had fallen off of her broom and hurt her arm and told them that her Uncle Moony had gotten ill, so he sent her back to the school so that she wouldn't catch it.

Briar was in a bad mood the next few days, but was cheered up when Harry showed her the invisibility cloak that used to be their father's that was addressed to the both of them from someone unknown. She had heard so many stories about that old cloak, and now it was in their possession. She couldn't cause so much trouble with it, it was going to be brilliant.

That night, full of turkey and cake and not having enough energy to leave after talking to Fred and George all night, fell asleep in the third year boys dorms with them, Fred bed having been made bigger so that they could all fit on it.

Briar's head was on Fred's chest, and he had one arm about her shoulder. On her other side, George rested his head on her shoulder, and had one arm slung about her middle.

She flinched slightly when she heard her name get whispered, but decided to ignore it and snuggled her head into Fred's neck.

"Bambi" he name was said again, slightly louder this time so that she could distinguish the voice, it was Harry.

"Go away, Harry, I'm sleeping" Briar mumble, moving back slightly to snuggle further to George, wanting to get more comfortable after being awakened.

"Do you want to use the invisibility cloak or not?" Harry whispered and with that Briar was wide away and sitting up straight, Fred and George's arms falling from her body as they groaned and shifted slightly, but otherwise made no move to show they were waking up.

Once Briar was safely hidden under the cloak, they both crept out of the dorm, don't the stair and across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady.

Briar and Harry said nothing. They walked quickly down the corridor. Briar's head was brimming with ideas on where they could go. They could freak out Filch, or finally get revenge on Mrs Norris, or they could pretend to haunt the Slytherins. However Harry seemed to have another idea so she just kept her steps in sync with his as he decided where they were going.

They set off, drawing the invisibility cloak tight around them as they walked.

"The Library seriously?" Briar groaned when they came to a stop.

She couldn't believe that with all the possibilities an invisibility cloak Harry decided that the library was the best place to be.

The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see their way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in mid-air, and even though she knew Harry was supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

Harry led her to The Restricted Section, which was right at the back of the library. Both of them stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, Harry held up his lamp to read the titles. They didn't tell them much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages neither of them could understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.

The hairs on the back of Briar's neck prickled. Maybe she was imagining it, maybe not, but she thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

"What are we even looking for?" Briar whispered, her eyes flickering across all the book spines.

"I don't know"

"Oh well that's helpful" Briar scoffed rolling her eyes.

She felt Harry shrug next to her. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, Harry looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book. A large black and silver volume seemed to have caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, handing it to Briar to hold, he pulled it open. A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence…the book was screaming!

Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear splitting note. Briar winced at the awful sound and also at the fact that they were probably going to get caught now and she didn't want detention on a holiday. Briar shoved the book at Harry covering her ears and Harry stumbled backward and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once.

Panicking, Briar heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside…Harry stuffed the shrieking book back on the shelf, he grabbed Briar and they ran for it. They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through them, and Harry and Briar slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears.

They came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. Briar had been so busy getting away from the library, they hadn't paid attention to where they was going. Perhaps because it was dark, she didn't recognize where she was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, she knew, but they must be five floors above there.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library Restricted Section."

Briar resisted a grin as adrenalin pumped through her and Harry paled, looking at her with wide, panicked eyes.

Wherever they were, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to Briar's annoyance, it was Snivillus who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

Briar and Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snivillus came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see them, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into them…the cloak didn't stop them from being solid.

She and Harry backed away as quietly as they could. A door stood ajar to their left and Briar grabbed Harry by the elbow and pulled him into it. Snivillus and Filch walked straight past, and Briar and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away.

"That was close" Harry whispered with a sigh of relief.

Briar put a hand over her mouth to cover a laugh "I know, wasn't it brilliant?" she asked in amusement and Harry glared at her, stopping her small laughs.

It was a few seconds before she noticed anything about the room they had hidden in. It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket…but propped against the wall facing them was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

Briar's adrenalin fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snivillus, Briar moved out from under the cloak and nearer to the mirror. As soon as she was standing directly in front of the mirror Briar gasped.

In the mirror was faces that she had only ever seen in photos and blurry memories. Standing directly behind her was Harry, her mum and dad. Their eyes shining and smiles on their faces. Next to her parents she noticed her uncle Padfoot, Uncle Wormtail, Uncle Moony, Aunt Marlene and Aunt Dorcas were all smiling too.

She whirled around almost expecting them to be standing them, but no one was. She frowned in confusion before turning back to the mirror and her eyes filled with tears at the sight she wished with a burning passion was real.

"Briar?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"It's our family" Briar told him softly, wiping away a stray tear "you have to look at this"

Briar moved out of the way of the mirror and Harry stood in her place. He clapped his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. Briar could now only see Harry in the mirror when she moved, but clearly harry could see more.

Harry edged a little closer to the glass. Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"

Harry stood in front of the mirror for a long time and Briar just watched him, watched her twin stare at their family for the first time since he didn't remember anything from when they were still alive and she doubted their horrible muggle relatives showed him any pictures.

Briar sighed when she realised that they couldn't stay here, they had to find their way back to be.

"Come one Harry, we need to go" Briar told him sadly when she noticed how late it was.

Harry tore his eyes away from the mirror and she pretended she didn't hear him whisper "I'll come back" as they hurried from the room.

"You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly the next morning when the two of them told him about their night time trip.

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, and I want to show you the mirror." Harry replied.

"Harry I'm not sure that's a good idea, staring at them in the mirror isn't going to bring them back" Briar told him.

Despite what she said, she too felt a pull towards the mirror, but she wasn't going to let anyone see that. She had spent her entire life feeling empty at her lack of a family and she wasn't going to let a stupid mirror weaken the walls she had built up to stop herself from breaking down.

"No I'm going, you don't have to come" Harry said.

Briar frowned, looking at him for a second, before she sighed, being able to tell instantly that she wasn't going to be able to convince her twin to not go back to the strange mirror and decided to go and find Fred and George instead to see what they were up to.

When she found the twins on the grounds they were bewitching the suits of armour to dance as people gathered around them. She smirked when she got an idea.

She waved her wand at the suit of armour in front of George, who frowned as it stopped dancing, before he noticed Briar and he grinned, nudging Fred, who also grinned when he spotted her.

"En guard, Fred" Briar said and flicked her wand, causing her suit of armour to raise its sword towards Fred's.

Fred looked at the suit of armour for a second before his grin widened and he flicked his sword causing his suit of armour to raise its sword too. Briar and Fred flicked their wands furiously as they caused the suits of armour to sword fight, trying to get the upper hand. Other students that were staying at Christmas cheered and George began to take bets from people.

Unfortunately after five minutes of duelling, they didn't find out who won as Minnie swooped down on them and dispersed everyone and slicked her wand to unanimate the metal men, their swords dropping to the ground.

Minnie made George give the students money back, before she gave her and Fred and small smile and gave them house points for good spell work, making them look at each other shocked when she turned to go back to the castle.

The next morning Harry was moping so she had gotten Ron to fill her in on what happened when they found the mirror again. Apparently Ron had seen himself as head boy and Quidditch captain rather than seeing his family, which confused her but she just shook her head and pushed it from her mind.

"What to play chess, Harry?" Ron said to Harry.

"No"

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?" Briar asked.

"No…You go…"

"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight" Briar warned him, looking unusually stern.

"Why not?"

"If you keep looking at something that isn't real it will drive you mad and besides, I have a bad feeling about it" Briar told him.

Harry rolled his emerald eyes "Yeah, just like you have a bad feeling about Professor Quirrell"

Briar opened her mouth to reply, but Ron beat her to it, "anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

"I'm serious, Harry, don't go." Ron said, before he got up and left.

Briar stayed with Harry for a moment, but he didn't speak to her. She shook her head, she knew without a doubt he wouldn't listen to them. He could only hope it wouldn't end up as bad as knew it could be.


	10. Nicolas Flamel

Chapter Nine

_Nicolas Flamel_

Luckily it turned out Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again. Apparently, she had caught Harry visiting, it turned out the Mirror showed them their deepest desire and now that Briar thought about it, it did make a lot of sense. The one thing she and Harry wanted more than anything was a family.

Sadly, Harry started to have nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his mother and Scarlett disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter. His vivid description of his dream caused Briar to have nightmares too, however hers were from her memories, her dad shouting words she could distinguish, her mother begging, and flashes of green light. However one addition was that instead of the Voldemort she remembered she saw a hooded figure crawling and stalking towards them, the thing from the woods she thought she had repressed.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad and your madness is affecting Briar" said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.

"And how exactly would that work?" Briar asked sceptically, it's not like we share a brain.

"It's probably a twin thing" Ron said as though it was obvious.

Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that he hadn't at least found whatever it was they were looking for in the library. Briar couldn't quite understand why they didn't tell her what it was they were looking for.

Once term started Briar got back into her usual routine. She had written to her uncle Moony know less than eight times and he hadn't written back once. She really hoped things got back to normal when summer rolled around.

Wood seemed to have become even more of a Quidditch fanatic as usual as he worked the team harder and harder, scheduling more and more practices. Despite the fact it meant she was spending less and less time with her twin, Fred and George, Briar was on Wood's side. If the Gryffindor team won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years.

At the moment Briar was extremely bored, Hermione and Ron were playing chess in the common room. Lee was in detention and the Weasley twin were at Quidditch practice so she just sat down and watched them as she copied off Hermione's potion's homework, which she didn't know she had.

Briar looked up eagerly when the portrait hole opened, looking for a distraction and was pleased to see that it was Harry that entered so she quickly stashed the homework into her bag.

"Don't talk to me for a moment" said Ron when Harry sat down next to him "I need to concentrate."

Briar, however, was looking at her twin's face and was confused by the forlorn expression on his face, Harry was normally in good moods after Quidditch practice, tired, but otherwise happy.

"What's the matter with you? You look terrible" Briar commented.

"Gee, thanks Briar" Harry grumbled.

Then, speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the three of them about Snivillus' sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch match.

Briar scowled angrily. Snivillus wasn't fair to the Gryffindors on the best of days, let alone during a Quidditch match where if the team won they would overtake Slytherin for the Quidditch cup. Hermione, Ron and Harry however, were still quite upset by the idea of losing the lead, we're more worried about the idea of Snape trying something like they believed he had last time.

"Don't play" said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg" Hermione suggested.

"Really break your leg" said Briar with a joking smirk.

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

At breakfast the next morning the whole hall roared with laughter, bar the Gryffindors as, at that moment, Neville toppled over to Ron, Harry and Hermione. Briar watch the spectacle for a moment as Hermione took out her wand to take the curse off him before she returned to her conversation with Fred and George.

"So you like Bell?" Briar said teasingly to George and Fred raised a suggestive brow at his twin and the two off them left when the tips of George's ears reddened.

"Fine, so I think she's pretty, but that doesn't mean I fancy her" George denied, before shoving some toast in his mouth.

Briar and Fred shared a glance before they laughed again before she turned back to breakfast and stuffed her face with cereal.

"Briar!" three voices suddenly shouted and Briar had to clap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from spitting her food out in shock.

She turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione approaching her from further down the table.

"What?" Briar asked after swallowing her mouthful.

Harry opened his mouth to answer before he looked past her and decided against it. she glanced over her shoulder and saw that Fred and George were looking at the four of them curiously.

"Erm, Bambi, can we talk to out in the hall for a moment?" Harry asked glancing at Fred and George before looking back to her.

"Oh, we get it" Fred said.

"We're not wanted" George added, in a faux said voice.

"Fine, just leave us out of it" Fred continued, adding a faux sob as he and George got up and left the table, shooting fake longing looks in their direction.

Briar rolled her eyes with a small laugh.

"So what is it you guys wanted?" said Briar, looking back at the three of them.

"Do you know who Nicolas Flamel is?" Hermione asked.

"No" Briar said slowly, her brows furrowed as she thought. "All I know about him is what it says on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card. They worked on Alchemy together or something. Is this what you three have been so obsessed with finding?"

Hermione jumped to on the spot, she hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

"Meet me in the common room!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Briar shared a mystified glance with Harry and Ron before they decided to go to the common room like she said, but Briar grabbed a few pieces of toast to eat on the way to Gryffindor tower. When they finally reached the common room Hermione was waiting there impatiently, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered to them excitedly as the three of them sat down next to her "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" scoffed Briar, but Hermione told her to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for and exclaimed, "I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily.

Hermione ignored him. "Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

Briar shared a confused glance with Harry and Ron, were they supposed to know what that is? "the What?" the three of them asked simultaneously.

"Oh, honestly, don't you three read?" Hermione scoffed in annoyance "Look…read that, there"

She pushed the book toward them, and Harry, Briar and Ron read:

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transfer many metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. _

_There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently inexistence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday, last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight). _

"See?" said Hermione, when the three of them had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"I still don't think Snivillus has anything to do with this" Briar said shaking her head.

"Well who do you think it is?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, maybe Quirrell" Briar said with a shrug.

To Briar it made more sense than Snivillus, he had the fake twitchiness and the inability to teach his own subject. However, it seemed the others didn't agree as Hermione shook her head and Ron and Harry shared a look before they began to laugh.

"Yeah right" Ron scoffed "Any way it's no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

The next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry, Briar and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Briar said she'd buy her own Quidditch team that Harry seemed to remember about Snivillus and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," he told Ron, Briar and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them...It'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione and Briar nodded in agreement, maybe she's keep her wand handy with a close eye on Snivillus just in case.

As the match grew nearer and nearer Harry grew more and more nervous. Briar tried her best to distract him by talking to him about pranks with the twins, but that didn't seem to help as even Fred and George were nervous about the upcoming match, which didn't help her worrying that something bad will happen to Harry again.

She didn't know if she was looking for things that weren't there since her conversation with Harry, Hermione and Ron but she swore that professor Quirrell was acting extremely sketchy.

Whenever Briar used her copy of the marauders map (which the twins were very pleased she had) her eyes automatically searched out Quirrell. Most of the time he had either mysteriously vanished off the grounds, was pacing in his office, was cornered with Snivillus or was lurking outside the third floor corridor.

She tried to voice her worries to Harry, but he seemed to be more convinced that Snivillus was behind everything since he was sure the Potions Master was following him, which to be honest sounded even more crazy than her suspicions.

Speaking of Snivillus, the Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, they were even worse than Herbology. Snivillus was awful to all the Gryffindors but was so horrible to her and Harry that Briar couldn't leave his classroom without getting at least one detention.

When the Quidditch match finally rolled around, Briar had found a place in the stands next to Ron, Hermione and Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had bought their wands to the match. Briar had secretly been helping Ron and Hermione perfect the leg-locker curse, they'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snivillus if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt her brother.

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered to them as they slipped their wands up their sleeves so they can have quick access to them.

"We know" Briar rolled her eyes.

"Don't nag" Ron added in a snappy voice.

Briar then waited impatiently for the game to start, half part wanting it to be over so Harry was safe and half part wanting to watch the game, hoping that Gryffindor.

She really hoped Harry would catch the Snitch quickly before Snivillus can favour Hufflepuff to much or have more of an opportunity to do something, if he would at all, because Briar was still sceptical as to whether Snivillus had done it the first time.

Briar looked up into the stands hoping to catch sight of Quirrell, when she saw him sitting awkwardly next to Dumbledore. She nudged Hermione and Ron to point out the headmaster and they both relaxed slightly at the sight of them.

"This is good right?" Ron asked.

Briar and Hermione nodded.

"He won't try anything with Dumbledore around" Hermione said.

"Who won't try anything?" Neville asked from beside them.

Briar shared a glance with Ron and Hermione at being over heard, and they all seemed to decide to just ignore the question.

When the teams marched onto the field Snivillus was looking extremely angry, she had only ever seen him look that angry when she taunted them in her detention with him.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean" Ron told them, seeming to have noticed the same thing Briar had.

"Look – they're off!" Briar exclaimed, watching the two teams rise in the air and Spinnett grab the Quaffle almost immediately.

Gryffindor was off to a good start at least. She spoke to soon, Snivillus had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because she had accidentally thrown the Quaffle at him.

Briar's attention was stone when Ron yelped and she turned to see that Malfoy had poked Ron in the back of his head.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley didn't see you there" Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle "Wonder how long your brother's going to stay on his broom this time, Potter, want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

Briar and Ron didn't answer instead looking up at Harry circling the game like a hawk as he looked for the snitch, with Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap and squinting fixedly.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly.

Briar ignored him in favour of grumbling curses under her breath when Snivillus awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all.

Malfoy however was not deterred as he continued in the same loud voice "It is people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys who've got no money…you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

A glare appeared on her face as she ground her teeth angrily. She was about to make a scathing comment while keeping her eyes on the game, but Neville beat her to it. Neville had gone bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy" Neville stammered and Briar turned to look at him in surprise but a small grin appeared on her face despite the terrible comeback, good for him, he seemed to have tapped into the Gryffindor courage the sorting hat had decided he had.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry. "I'm warning you, Malfoy …one more word…"

"Ron! Briar!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry…"

"What? Where?"

Briar turned from watching the spectacle with the Slytherins to look back at the pitch. Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and tears from the crowd. Briar stood up in unison with Hermione, who had her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obvious spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

"Woah!" Briar exclaimed as Ron snapped.

The red head was suddenly on top of Malfoy, who looked shocked beyond belief, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitate, the clambered over her seat to help.

"Merlin! Punch Crabbe in the eye Neville!" Briar called as the small boy took on the pair of Slytherins.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione suddenly screamed, stealing Briar's attention and she quickly looked back to the match, ignoring Malfoy and Ron rolling around under their seats and the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches…the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand. Briar cheered loudly, she had never felt prouder of Harry, it had to be a record, she bet no one had ever caught the snitch so quickly.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The games over!" Shrieked Hermione as she and Briar danced up and down in their seats hugging each other.

"We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" Briar shouted happily her mood was only made better when she saw Snivillus land, white-faced and tight-lipped pit bitterly on the ground.

The Gryffindor team disappeared into the locker room and Briar turned to help Ron get up from the ground as Crabbe and Goyle helped Malfoy lumber away. It was only when Hermione was worriedly seeing to Ron's nose bleed, that she noticed Neville was unconscious.

Before they went back to the common room, where there was sure to be a party, Briar, Ron and Hermione went to the medical room to deposit Neville and Madame Pomfrey healed Ron up in a second too.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked when Harry finally turned up.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Briar, thumping Harry on the back.

"And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right….talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens." Ron said excitedly.

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room; you wait 'til you hear this..." He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard between Snivillus and Quirrell in the forbidden forest. "So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy…and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus…I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through…"

"You don't know it's Snivillus though, maybe it's Quirrell and Snivillus trying to stop him" Briar said.

"Just give it up, Briar" Ron said rolling his eyes.

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.


	11. Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

**Author's note: I got asked if Briar is going to end up with anyone and yes she is. In first and second year I think she'll be with Lee, but in her fourth she will begin to realise her feelings for Fred.** Chapter Ten

_Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback_

However, regardless of who was plotting to the steal the stone, they obviously weren't making any progress. Briar was still adamant that it was Quirrell, pointing out to the others that he seemed to be getting paler and thinner because his plan wasn't working out. Harry, Ron and Hermione scoffed at that idea, instead saying that it was Snape seeing as he was sweeping about in his usual bad temper. Despite the disagreement, Briar still helped them in pressing her ears to the door on the third floor to check that Fluffy was still growling inside.

Harry had started to give Quirrell what he viewed as an encouraging sort of smile when he past him in the halls and Ron started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's (fake) stutter. Quirrell would give them both a shaky sort of smile in return, but it immediately dropped when he saw the suspicious glare on Briar's face next to them.

On the other hand, unlike Briar and the boys, Hermione had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colour coding all her notes. Briar wouldn't have really minded if it wasn't for the fact she was nagging her, Harry and Ron to do the same. Briar thought she had it much worse than the boys though considering they didn't have to share a dorm with her.

"'Mione, the exams are ages away" protested Briar.

She wasn't sure what her friend was so worried about. Not only were the exams ages away, but Hermione was smart enough to get through them without revising. It's not like it would matter whether she got Outstandings or not anyway, it's not like they were taking their OWLS or NEWTS.

"Ten weeks" Hermione snapped "That's not ages, it's like a second to Nicolas Flamel"

"But we're not six hundred years old" Ron reminded her and Briar nodded in agreement "anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all"

Briar sighed a slumped in her chair. Thanks to Ron she knew they were in for one of the famous rants of Hermione Jean Granger.

Sure enough a second later…

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me…"

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione, so much so that Briar could barely catch a nap in her lessons anymore. Furthermore, they piled so much homework on them that even Briar's Easter holidays included doing homework, unable to do it all as quick as she normally would.

Briar was currently supposed to be doing her Herbology homework, but it was hard enough to get the, frankly useless, subject's work done without Hermione reciting the twelve uses of dragons blood or practicing wand movement next to her. Briar ended up getting so bored that she started to transfigure the objects people were using into different things just to annoy them. The funniest was when she transfigured Lee's book into a spider when he passed by Ron, the memory of the screams would bring her much amusement for at least a week.

When Harry and Ron, moaning and yawning, were dragged to the library with Hermione, Briar when up to the third year boys dorms to spend time with Fred and George. However, what she found made her groan inwardly, Fred and George had joined their beds together in order to lie next to each other and do their homework.

It seemed the professors had been piling the homework on their year too for the end of year tests. Briar should have known this was what they were doing since they were inside on such a nice day, heaven forbid they allow someone to see them doing their homework, don't want to ruin their reputation.

"Hey Fred, hey George" she greeted them in turn, moving to lie next to Fred on the conjoined beds.

"How do you do that?" George questioned, looking up from his homework and putting down his quill.

Briar frowned in confusion, looking from George to Fred and back again "do what?"

"Tell us apart" Fred answered for his twin.

George nodded "you can do it with your eyes closed."

"Maybe because your my best friends" Briar laughed when the twins grinned at her and added "and also because of this"

Briar reached to the left and ruffled both of their red hair at the same time. Fred quickly moved to ruffle her hair in retaliation, while George immediately reached up to straighten his hair with scowl.

Briar ruffled her hair back into an acceptable position before laughing as the twins looked at her questioningly.

"See, George's first thought is to make himself presentable, while Fred's first thought is revenge" Briar explained.

Fred and George glanced at each other and it was only then that they seemed to notice their actions when they took in George's neat hair and Fred's still messy mop.

"Well-" George started.

"Aren't you observant" Fred finished with amusement.

The two Weasley's turned back to their homework and Briar groaned out loud this time, turning so that she could lie back on the bed and glare at the expanse of red above her due to the bed hangings.

"Ugh what is it with everyone and homework? It's finally sunny outside, we could be hexing Slytherins or pranking Filching or shooting sparks at the giant squid" moaned Briar.

"Don't worry we're almost done, we just need to do transfiguration" George said, looking down at the last few questions in front of him.

"Oh look, '_what four characteristics of an animagus?_'" Fred read from the parchment, looking at Briar with a smirk.

George did the same, "I wonder what the answer could be, what do you think _Bambi_?"

Briar rolled her hazel eyes, trying to stop her lips twitching in amusement. She really shouldn't have showed them her animagus form, it just gave them more incentive to tease her, only this time they could do it as an inside joke, confusing those around them, which just spurred them on more.

"Prats" scoffed Briar.

"Aww come on Briar" Fred pouted, his blue eyes swimming with amusement.

"Yeah, don't get your _hooves_ in a twist" George smirked.

Briar glared at him in annoyance.

"I'm going to kill you" Briar growled, she shoved Fred in the side so that he bumped into George, who in turn rolled off the side of the bed with a loud thump.

Briar grinned in triumph when George let out a pain filled groan as she and Fred peered over the edge to watch him moving into a seat position rubbing his head, before he clambered back onto the bed next to them.

"Okay, but in all seriousness-" Fred started.

Briar cut him off with a scoff of disbelief at the very idea the twins could ever be totally serious, it was one of the things she loved about them.

"Fine, in _relative_ seriousness what's the answer to the question?" Fred asked.

Briar rolled her eyes, grinning in amusement.

"We can change at will, the change is painless, we can keep our minds during the transformation but still have the urges of our animal, and the animal we transform into depends on your personality" Briar stated with a bored tone, already knowing everything there is to know as Fred and George scribbled down the answers.

"I think Minnie will be in for quite the surprise when she marks our homework, don't you think so, Gred?" Fred smirked.

"Right you are, Forge" George replied with a grin, quickly hopping to his feet and Briar and Fred di the same "we actually answered the questions"

Briar laughed and shook her head as the three of them began to make their way from Gryffindor tower towards the grounds.

On the other hand Harry was looking longingly out of the Library window at the bright sun and his twin in her animagus form as she avoided the different coloured sparks Fred and George were shooting at her as they laughed.

An hour later Briar was knocking on Hagrid's door and she frowned when she noticed that the gamekeeper's curtains were closed. The whole time she had known Hagrid, which was an extremely long time since he is good friends with her Uncle Moony, she had never known him to close his curtains.

Even stranger, was Hagrid calling "who is it?" before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.

Briar pulled off the jumper Mrs Weasley had knitted her and wrapped it around her waist when they got in, leaving her in her tank top, due to the stifling heat contained in the hut. Even though it was a warm day, Hagrid had a fire blazing in the grate.

Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which Briar refused, preferring to go to the kitchens later than feel sick due to Hagrid disastrous cooking skills, they were even worse than her Uncle Moony's.

"So…yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid asked as they all sat down.

"Yes" said Briar, seeing no point in beating around the bush "We were wondering-"

"-What's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy" Harry finished for her.

Hagrid frowned at them.

"O' course I can't" he said "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh even if I could. That stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts…I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy"

Harry gave Briar a look and she gave him a small nod, knowing that he wanted her help since she was the most devious out of them. She in turn gave Hermione a look, who frowned at her in confusion, clearly not able to interpret her looks like her twin can so she gave her a more fierce look and she finally made a look of realisation.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here" Hermione said in a warm, flattering voice.

Briar's lips turned up in a small smirk when Hagrid's beard twitch and she could tell he was smiling at the compliment.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really" Briar went on in the same sort of tone "we wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him apart from you" Briar added on for good measure at knew it had worked has Hagrid's chest swelled at her last words.

Harry and Ron beamed at the girls.

"Well" Hagrid hedged "I don' s'ppose it could hurt ter tell yeh that…let's see…he borrowed Fluffy from me…then some o' the teachers did enchantments…Professor Sprout…Professor Flitwick…Professor McGonagall…" he ticked them off on his large fingers "Professor Quirrell…an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape…"

That last name caused her three friends' heads to snap towards Hagrid "Snape?"

"Yeah…yer not still on abou' that, are yeh?" Look, Snape helped protect the stone, he's not about ter steal it"

Briar frowned. If her suspicions were correct then Quirrell would know how to get past every protection, except one of them if the stone was still in its safe place.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. Aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously.

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore" said Hagrid proudly.

And me, Briar couldn't help but add in her mind, however she couldn't feel smug when she realised that she had just found out which protection Quirrell couldn't get past.

"Well, that's something" Harry muttered in an undertone to her and the others before turning back to Hagrid "Hagrid, can we have a window open?"

"Yeah, I'm boiling" Briar added, fanning herself with her hand.

"Can't, yer two, sorry" said Hagrid.

Briar noticed Hagrid glance at the fire, so Briar looked at it too.

In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg. She glanced at the books piled on a side table which had titles such as: _'__Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide.' _She looked back at the egg with wide, eager eyes, knowing what it was. It was a Dragon's egg.

She knew Hagrid had always wanted a dragon, it was one of the first things she had learned about him at their first meeting when she was six. The fact that dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709 only made it more exciting in her eyes, knowing that hardly anyone else would have the opportunity.

Briar knew that in England there were only Common Welsh Greens and Herbridean Blacks and from the books she read she knows that egg wasn't one of them.

"Hagrid…What's that?" Harry asked, but Briar new that just like her he had already figured out what it was.

"Ah" said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard "That's err…"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Briar said, crouching over the fired to get a closer look at the egg, now being able to see the ridges on it "it must've cost you a fortune"

"Won it" said Hagrid "las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it ter be honest."

Briar looked at him in surprise, who would be glad to get rid of a dragon egg? Who would even want to get rid of one? Briar would love to have a pet dragon.

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doing some readin'" said Hagrid, pulling yet another large book about dragons from under his pillow "Got this outta the library…Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit…it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here…" Hagrid pointed to another section of the book "how ter recognize different eggs…what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them"

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house" she said.

Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. Briar thought the whole situation as brilliant, with the risk of getting caught hiding an illegal dragon, but by the look on the other's faces they didn't agree.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting.

"Why would you want a peaceful life, where would the fun be? Sitting around doing homework. Pfft" Briar scoffed and Hermione hit her arm, making her glare at the bushy haired girl.

Hermione had now started making study schedules for her, Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them nuts. Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig and Onyx brought Harry and Briar another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words on each letter: _It's hatching_.

Ron and Briar wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Come on 'Mione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Briar pleaded. "And what are you going to need Herbology for in the future anyway?"

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing…" Hermione said in a disapproving tone.

"Shut up!" Harry whispered.

Briar turned to him affront, but soon found out the reason for him snapping at them.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Briar didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all. She briefly considered hexing him into oblivion, but she didn't want to risk him blabbing if he had heard something.

Briar, Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. Briar was about to try and convince her to leave soon, but Ron clamped a hand over her mouth, not wanting Hermione to change her mind on the compromise.

When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the four of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking as flushed and excited as Briar herself did.

"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath. All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table.

Briar thought it was brilliant. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"It looks like a crumpled, black umbrella" Harry muttered to Brair lowly so that the other's couldn't here.

"I know, wonderful isn't it?" Briar replied with a huge smile, but missed Harry looking at her like she was crazy since she was so focused on the little dragon.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured.

He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.

"Awww…" Briar cooed.

She reached her own fingers out to stroke it. Instead of snapping at her the dragon leaned his head into her hand to get closer to her touch. His scales were leathery and an extreme heat was emitting from his body, bordering on a burning temperature on her fingers.

"He like yer…" Hagrid said, him and Briar both beaming.

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face…he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" Ron asked.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains…it's a kid…he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Briar and Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him. Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron, Briar and Hermione very nervous. Briar spent a lot of time visiting Hagrid and the dragon as Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to convince him to get rid of the dragon.

"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid.

She frowned. Dragons at such a young age relied on their mother's and in this young Dragons case that was Hagrid. They needed to be provided with heat and food and shelter, especially this one since Norwegian Ridgebacks aren't used to the coldness of England.

"Hagrid's right" Briar agreed "He's too little. He'd die."

Briar looked down at the dragon as she allowed him to rest his head on her lap and she stoked his scales gently as his eyes fluttered. He no longer fit in her hands, the dragon had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of his nostrils so that twice since they had arrived she had to pat out a few sparks to prevent her robes getting set on fire.

Hagrid hadn't been doing his game-keeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert " said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?"

Norbert cracked open a large black eye, but otherwise didn't move from his place with Briar.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip. "I…I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie," he said.

"You're losing it, too and Briar" said Ron and Briar glanced up from stroking Norbert's head as Hagrid cooed at the Dragon to glare at the youngest Weasley brother. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No…Charlie…your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him. The following week dragged by. Briar had been spending a lot of time helping Hagrid looking after Norbert, since she was the only one who he wouldn't attack when near him, especially since he had taken to biting Hagrid.

Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron and Briar appeared out of nowhere as they pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak. Ron had been down at Hagrid's hut to get Briar, who was helping Hagrid feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" Ron said, showing Hermione and Harry his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

"Ron he's just looking after it, and there's a reason Hagrid only lets me in there with Norbert, he doesn't like anyone else" Briar argued, to be honest she felt it was Ron's only fault for coming down to Hagrid's when he knew there was a temperamental Dragon living there.

There was a tap on the dark window distracting Ron from giving Briar a scathing retort.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in, putting a stop to the regular argument about Norbert that Briar and Ron had been having quite a lot over the past week. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The four of them put their heads together to read the note:

_Dear Ron, _

_How are you? _

_Thanks for the letter…I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark. Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love, Charlie._

They looked at one another.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult. I think the cloaks big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

"I know this castle better than anyone I can get us there quickly" Briar put in.

"I think Briar should definitely go, she's the only one who can keep Norbert calm and then Harry and me" Ron said.

"What about me?" Hermione argued.

Hermione and Ron argued well into the night about which one of them should be the third one, but the next day the decision was made for them.

By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey…would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous, which Briar though only made Norbert even better.

Briar, Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me…I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me. I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all.

On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no oh no…I've just remembered…Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

"Why did you give him the book?" Briar snapped, glaring at him for his own stupidity.

"Well, if I had remembered the letter was in there I wouldn't have given it to him would I?" Ron replied with a similar glare, only his wasn't as fierce as usual due to the sick look on his face.

"Why would you give Malfoy of all people one of your books anyway?" Briar hissed.

Ron didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Briar said to Harry and Hermione.

"I know. We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that." Harry said.

They found Fang, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them after Briar walked through the door.

As soon as she did Norbert turned to her and his eyes seemed to light up as he quickly turned to her, his tail whacking the wall as he did, causing the whole hut to shudder. Briar stroked Norbert's head in greeting and quickly dodged a large puff of smoke that released itself from his nose. She wondered absently if she was so good with animals because she was an animagus, whether they could sense the animal part in her.

"I won't let you two in," she heard Hagrid puff through the window. "Norbert's at a tricky stage…nothin' I can't handle."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Briar had gotten distracted from the dragon and Norbert had bit him on the leg.

"Aargh!" Hagrid yelped "It's all right, he only got my boot…jus' playin'…he's only a baby, after all."

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle.

"Norbert stop that right now" Briar scolded and the dragon fell silent looking up at her with wide eyes.

When Harry and Hermione left to go back to the castle, Briar stayed behind to help Hagrid get Norbert ready to leave. Briar ended up doing a lot of the work since he had been sniffling into his huge handkerchief. She had to admit that she was saddened at Norbert leaving too, she had grown quite close to the dragon over the last week.

It was a very dark, cloudy night, and Hermione and Harry were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because apparently they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall.

By this time, Hagrid and Briar had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely"

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry, Briar and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mommy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another…even one of Briar's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier and she had to keep whispering inconsequential words to Norbert to keep him calm.

"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate.

Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared. Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you…"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming…he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on….I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione and Briar did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention!" Briar said happily.

"I know, I could sing" Hermione said with a big smile.

"Don't," Harry advised Hermione.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate.

"Shhh…it is okay Norbert" Briar said soothingly and the crate stilled, so that they could just hear Norbert's deep breathing.

"I still don't understand how you're so good with animals" Hermione told Briar, awed.

"It's a gift" Briar said sharing a small smile with her twin as they both knew she was part animal herself.

About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Briar, Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then the three of them shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going...Going...Gone.

Briar was staring after them watching their disappearing figures in the air and only once she turned did she notice that Hermione and Harry slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them.

Briar frowned as she picked up her father's cloak off the floor and rolled her eyes at her friends stupidity, without the cloak they were sure to get caught with teachers, filch, Mrs Norris, prefects and Peeves wandering around.

Briar quickly skipped down the stairs only to stop when she heard "Well, well, well," Filch's voice whisper, "we are in trouble."

She could see Harry and Hermione froze and quickly through the invisibility cloak over herself. She wanted nothing more than to hex the smug smile off of Filch's face.


	12. The Forbidden Forest

Chapter Eleven

_Forbidden Forest_

Briar frowned as she watched Filch drag Harry and Hermione off to Minnie's office, knowing that was where they were heading from experience. She considered taking off the invisibility cloak and sharing the blame, but she figured there was no point in Gryffindor losing more points than it had too so quickly made her way up to Gryffindor tower annoyed at herself for not bringing the Marauder's map that her Uncle Moony gifted her with.

Briar tried to wait up for Harry and Hermione to come back and was surprised when a crying Neville was accompanying them.

"What happened?" Briar asked as soon as Neville stumbled off to bed. "you forgot our cloak and once I got down their Filch had already caught you" she added, holding up their cloak.

"He took us straight to McGonagall" Harry said sadly and Briar glanced at Hermione, but the girl was looking down at her hands giving the occasional sniffle "You know how Malfoy tried to rat us out about the Dragon?"

Briar nodded, not quite sure where her brother was going with that.

"Well, Neville overheard Malfoy saying he was going to catch us about the dragon so tried to warn us, but McGonagall caught him too. She obviously didn't believe we had a dragon so she thought that we had told them both as a joke. Now we all a have a detention and fifty points taken off of us" Harry continued.

"Fifty?" Briar gasped at the harshness, she and the twins had never lost that many points, at least not in one go.

"Each" Hermione finally spoke.

Briar's eyes widened in shock and she stared at them in horror. This would put Gryffindor in last place for the cup, they would never be able to catch up now. Briar's eyes narrowed when she realised that this was all Malfoy's fault, she was going to prank him into next week.

Briar barely slept that night, kept up by Hermione sobbing in her pillow for what seemed like hours. She knew Hermione hated getting in trouble and this was the worst trouble she had known anyone get into short of being expelled.

She briefly wondered what the rest of Gryffindor house was going to think when they found out who had lost all the points. She knew that it wasn't her brother and friends who had lost them, she would have been extremely angry.

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, them and a couple of other stupid first years.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school next to Briar and the twins, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Briar had taken to hexing anyone who did that, but she could only get away with it so many times not wanting to lose Gryffindor any more points.

However, not wanting to lose points didn't overrule the need to hex the Slytherins, who clapped Harry whenever he walked past them, whistling and cheering "Thanks Potter, we owe you one"

The only person that wasn't out their last night that stood by her brother was Ron.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Briar, Fred and George have lost loads of points and people still like them" Ron said comfortingly.

"Well, of course they do" Briar smirked ruffling her hair.

Harry's lips twitched up in a small smile, but just as quickly it was gone.

"You've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go though, have you?" said Harry miserably.

Briar shared a glance with Ron before looking back at Harry, biting her lip.

"Well…no" Briar admitted.

"They'll still forget about it eventually though" Ron quickly added.

Harry seemed to be taking this whole situation extremely bad. He even told her that he swore to himself not to meddle in things, meaning they hadn't had a conversation about the Sorcerer's Stone in a while. Briar wasn't sure how long this new revelation would last however, trouble ran in a Potter's blood.

Her twin had even tried to resign from the Quidditch team. When Wood had told her she was bordering on hexing him. She wasn't allowed on the team, so at the moment she was going to be living vicariously through him. The only reason she had refrained from hexing him was when he told her that Quidditch just wasn't fun anymore because none of the team would speak to him and if they had to they would refer to him as 'the seeker'.

When Briar had heard this she had stormed up to the third year boys dorms and torn the twins a new one. She had managed to convince the two of them and Lee to be nicer to her twin, but it had taken a lot of convincing on her part. Despite losing so many points since they started Hogwarts they had never lost them on this scale and they wanted to win the house cup. According to them Gryffindor hadn't been winning as of late.

Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence. Briar was thankful for the girl not nagging her to study since exams were only a week away, but much to her surprise she found herself missing her friend, even her nagging.

"Okay, where is Orion located?" Hermione asked, testing her and Ron in Astronomy.

Briar was about to answer that is was also known as the hunter and was visible in the sky from November to February and is in the northern hemisphere, but it was at that moment when Harry entered the common room and rushed over to them.

Harry rushed into an explanation that he had heard Quirrell begging and giving in. Briar almost smiled when she realised that Harry had already done what he swore not to, but decided that now wasn't the time.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell…"

"Yes, but he didn't actually see Snivillus leave, so maybe…" Briar started, but the other three seemed to have taken to ignoring her when she tried to convince them it was Quirrell so she was interrupted by Hermione.

"There's still Fluffy, though?" said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid, Briar did" said Ron, "I bet there's a book somewhere in the library telling you how to get past a three-headed dog and Snape could have easily found it. So what do we do, Harry?"

Briar shared a glance with Ron, the light of adventure kindling again in both of their eyes, but Hermione answered Ron's question before Harry could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure"

"But we've got now proof!" said Harry "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor…who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, especially Bambi, Dumbledore will think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students that get thrown out the better, he'll think. And don't forget we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining"

Hermione looked convinced, but Briar and Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around…" Briar said.

"No" said Harry flatly "we've done enough poking around"

Her twin pulled out a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.

The next morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione and Neville. Much to her twin's surprise Briar also got one, she had gotten it for sticking Malfoy to the ceiling near the Great Hall in retaliation for getting her brother and friends in trouble.

They said the same as the notes she had gotten many times before:

_Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. _

_Meet Mr Filch in the entrance hall. _

_Professor McGonagall._

At eleven o'clock that night, Briar said goodbye to Fred, George and Lee, so that she could go down to the entrance hall with Harry, Hermione and Neville. Filch was already there…and so was Malfoy. Briar had almost forgotten that Malfoy had gotten detention too with how much time she spent plotting her prank on him.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... Hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... Hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days; I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

Briar rolled her eyes. She had heard that rant from Filch so often she could probably recount it word for word in her sleep.

They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Briar was the only one out of the group that was relaxed, she supposed it was because she knew what was coming. She actually found detention with Hagrid in the forest quite fun, she already spent a lot of time in there in her animagus form.

The half-moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut.

Then they heard a distant shout. "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Briar chuckled slightly when she saw Harry's relief, but Filch must have noticed too because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy…it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece "

At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" the Slytherin repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night…there's all sorts of things in there…werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Briar's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

"Oh stop scaring them Filch" Briar said rolling her eyes "You're forgetting how many detentions I've had in the forest. And don't worry, there are no werewolves" Briar saw the other's look slightly comforted and could resist adding quietly "anymore" smiling at her own inside joke.

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Briar, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all"

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh?' Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here"

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest, he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've gotta pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff; it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this…"

"He'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

Briar stiffened as she thought of the hooded figure that had stricken such fear inside a unicorn, but she quickly pushed the image from her mind, not wanting to admit to herself that it had actually scared her a hell of a lot too.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me, Briar or Fang," said Hagrid and the other's turned to Briar in shock.

"What? I'm good with creatures and I'm in the forest all the time for detention" Briar said with a shrug.

Inwardly she was beaming with pride that the creatures in the forest liked her. Briar had introduced her to Aragog and often took her out to feed the Thestrals.

"An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in different directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Briar an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now…that's it…an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh…so, be careful…let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Briar, Neville, and Fang took the right. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Fang was walking a few feet in front of them, while Neville was clutching Briar's sleeve fearfully and even Malfoy seemed to be standing closer to her than he should.

"You just wait until my father here about this, he'll have a word with the Governors about this" Malfoy sneered, looking about the forest with equal parts fear and distaste.

"Oh, shut up Malfoy, your father won't be able to do anything." Briar rolled her eyes.

"At least I have a father, Potter" Malfoy snapped.

The heat of Briar's glare could have set the forest on fire. Her hands were shaking with rage as she plunged her hand into her pocket to point her wand at Malfoy threateningly.

"Say that again, Malfoy" Briar growled, narrowing her hazel eyes angrily.

"What are you going to do?" Malfoy tried to laugh it off but he was glancing nervously down to her wand every other second.

"Oh I can do a lot, you're forgetting who my best friends are" Briar smirked cruelly.

Neville seemed to not want to be close to the fight so ran to catch up with fang. Briar and Malfoy glared at each other for a few more moments before Briar reluctantly pocketed her wand and the two of them caught up with Neville.

Malfoy however couldn't seem to go a few seconds without being a prat and seemed to feel the need to sneak up on Neville and grab him with a fake growl. Neville let out a terrible yelp and shot red sparks up into the sky.

"You stupid Prat!" Briar screeched pulling out her wad again and this time she wasn't bluffing.

Malfoy was now hanging upside down by his ankle with yellow hair. He should have known better than to mess with someone raised by a marauder '_Levicorpus_' was one of the first spell her Uncle Moony taught her.

"Potter!" Malfoy roared furiously.

"Shhh" Briar hissed, "you're going to attract other creatures."

Almost the second she said that there was a rustling behind her and Neville let out another yelp as the two of them whirled around and Malfoy finally fell silent. There was a giant spider with eight hairy limbs and clicking pincers. It was one of Aragog's children.

Malfoy and Neville stiffened and paled at the sight.

That moment however Hagrid came out through the trees and the spider scarpered.

"Wha' happened to yer?!" Hagrid asked worriedly.

"Nothing" Briar said glaring at Malfoy, who was still upside down with yellow hair "that prat decided it would be funny to sneak up on Neville, who panicked and set up the sparks"

Hagrid made her let Malfoy down and turn his hair back the right colour, but Briar could tell he though the prat deserved it from how angry he looked. When they returned to Harry and Hermione, Hagrid was fuming.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups…Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Briar, Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry and Briar, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' you can stop him from panickin' we've gotta get this done."

Briar set off again but this time with Harry, Malfoy and Fang. She couldn't help but feel annoyed that she was stuck with the Slytherin again.

"How does he expect us to stay in this forest, there was a giant spider" Malfoy sneered.

Briar rolled her eyes "It was just one of Aragog's children, they wouldn't have eaten you with me here"

"Eaten me?" Malfoy asked in shock.

"I thought that was why you were panicking" Briar said in a faux innocent voice "Did you not know thy eat people? Oops my bad" Briar said, but knew she didn't sound sorry at all as Malfoy looked through the trees even more nervous than before.

Briar smirked, she found scaring him was perfect revenge.

They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Briar thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Briar could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look…" Harry murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy and Briar.

Briar followed Harry's eyes to see something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer. It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Briar felt rather saddened that something so beautiful and pure had been killed so brutally. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Briar and Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made them freeze where they stood. Briar had heard that sound before. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Briar's breathing quickened, she had almost managed to convince herself that she made the creature up, but now it was right in front of her again. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!" Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted and so did Fang.

The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Briar Harry…unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them. Briar was frozen in fear for a moment before she snapped herself out of it and began to drag her brother back, trying to get him away from the horrid teacher.

However, they didn't get that far. Briar hard only managed to get them back a few step before Harry let out a shout of pain and dropped to his knees, dragging her down with him. Harry was clutching at his scar with his free hand and Briar pulled on the one clasped in hers and managed to shuffle the two of them backwards.

Briar's head snapped up when she heard hooves behind them, galloping, and something jumped clean over the two Potters, charging at the figure. Harry let out another yelp of pain and Harry gripped her twin's arm worriedly.

When she and Harry finally looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over them, he looked fairly young; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" said the centaur, as Briar staggered upright pulling Harry to his feet.

"Yes…thank you…what was that?" Harry asked.

The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry and Briar, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said to Harry. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time…especially for you. Can you two ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Briar and Harry could clamber onto his back.

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Two more centaurs, Ronan and Bane, came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty. However, Briar recognized those two, she had met them before with Hagrid and didn't particularly care for them.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."

Well, what am I? A flobberworm? Briar thought with a roll of her hazel eyes.

"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

Ronan pawed the ground nervously.

"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in anger. "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Briar had to grab onto Harry's waist tightly to stay on.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could as Briar held onto him in turn, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them. Briar didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry asked.

"What was that thing you saved us from, anyway?" Briar added.

Firenze slowed to a walk, warned them both to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer either question. They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Briar thought Firenze didn't want to talk to them anymore.

They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped. "Harry and Briar Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," said Harry, startled by the odd question.

"We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions." Briar continued for her twin.

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Briar shared a horrified glance with Harry.

"But who'd be that desperate?" Briar wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?"

"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else…something that will bring you back to full strength and power…something that will mean you can never die. Mr Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course…the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who…" Harry said.

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

Briar and Harry seemed to come to the same conclusion simultaneously as they shared a glance filled with horror and fear. Voldemort. Her Uncle Moony had told him of his suspicions of him not really being gone when she was nine and was too curious for her own good.

"Harry! Briar! Are you two all right?" Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.

"We're fine," said Harry, answering for the both of them. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you, " Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."

Harry and Briar slid off his back.

"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times." He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry and Briar shivering behind him.

Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry and Briar began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the forest.

Harry couldn't seem to sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking. Her twins worry seemed to be seeping into her and Briar found herself more worried because of it. Was this because they were twins or did she just know him well? Briar suspected the former.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort...And Voldemort's waiting in the forest... And all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.

Harry wasn't listening.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so... Bane was furious... He was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen...They must show that Voldemort's coming back... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.

"Oh honestly Ron, get over it" Briar said rolling her eyes.

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy. "

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort. "Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. Briar's dreams were filled with his a pale face and evil red eyes and green light and her mother's ruby red hair spilling across the floor.


	13. Tortured Questions

Chapter Twelve

_Tortured Questions_

Briar had managed to drift her way through exams. She acted calm but she could feel the fear twisting in her stomach at the thought of Voldemort. He was and probably always would be her greatest fear. She could tell Lee and the twins knew something was up, but luckily she managed to distract them with pranks, of course this led to many detentions and for the first time Briar found wandering around the castle at night frightening.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell. They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox…points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all the other students nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Briar thought she didn't wonderfully, well except in Herbology, if she passed that she might actually faint in shock.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Briar cheered happily with the rest, even shooting multi-coloured sparks out of her wand in celebration.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill and Briar said it was bad enough to have to take the test they shouldn't have to go through it as well, so as soon as Hermione spoke about the test, Briar decided to go over to the twin and Lee instead.

"Hey guys" Briar said in greeting, flopping down on the grass next to the three third years.

She got two '_Hi Bambi'_s and a '_Hey, Briar_' in response.

"What are you three up to?" Briar asked with a grin, feeling eager to talk about something that didn't include tests or Voldemort's inevitable return.

"Just celebrating tests being over" Fred and George said simultaneously.

"We were in the common room, but we let my tarantula into the third year girls dorms and Angelina, Katie and Alicia shooed us out" Lee added and Briar nodded knowingly as this wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Actually, they screamed-" Fred added in correction.

"-Hexed-" George continued.

"-And kicked us out-"

"-Literally" George finished and Briar laughed at their antics.

"So you're celebrating tests being over by sitting on the grass?" Briar asked incredulously before giving the three boys a faux disappointed look "I thought you were better than that."

"Maybe we're being responsible" Lee said seriously, but there was a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"There's responsible and then there's downright dull" Briar shot back.

"Dull?!" Fred and George cried.

"We are offended at the very accusation" Lee gasped.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Briar asked with a mischievous smirk and trouble swimming in her hazel eyes.

Fred, George and Lee all shared a glance, before Fred seemed to come to a conclusion and turned back to her with a grin.

"I bet I can get the giant squid to grab me before you three can" Fred challenged.

"You're on" Briar said at the same time with George and Lee.

She hopped to her feet and the four friends sprinted down towards the lake, intent to torture the giant squid into attacking them first.

During Defence against the Dark Arts the next day Briar filled her in on his worries about something bad happening and his scar hurting in a warning. Briar frowned with scepticism, but then she though back to how Harry clutched his head in pain when that hooded figure of Voldemort was stalking towards them drenched in unicorn blood.

However, Briar decided not to tell him that she was just as worried as he was, knowing it wouldn't help anything, probably only make Harry feel worse. Besides she doubted anything like this could happen under Dumbledore's nose, the old wizard knew everything. One time she and Fred had turned Snivillus' rooms a vivid shade of Red and Gold and dragged them to the headmaster, but was unable to prove it was them, however Briar was sure the old wizard had shot them a wink with a knowing look in his eyes.

"Just stop worrying Harry" Briar decided to say as they left the DADA room "Hagrid won't tell anyone how to get past Fluffy and Dumbledore and I are the only other ones who can do it"

Harry was about to reply, but was cut off by Professor Quirrell stammering, "M-miss P-P-Potter, can I s-see you f-f-for a moment?"

Briar looked at him suspiciously. She didn't trust Quirrell as far as she could throw him and she certainly didn't like that odd look in his eyes. However, Briar didn't see a way out of this so hesitantly followed him back into the classroom.

"L-Let's take t-t-this to my office, s-shall we?" Quirrell asked and Briar became even more hesitant as he ushered her into the classroom.

"What is it you need, sir?" Briar asked, adjusting her bag strap on her shoulder nervously.

Quirrell didn't answer, instead he turned and fiddled with the door and Briar tensed when she heard the resounding click of it locking. When Quirrell pulled out his wand Briar put her hand in her pocket to grip her own, worry swirling in her veins at what the professor was going to do.

However, Quirrell didn't curse her, he instead waved his wand at the walls with a wand movement that Briar recognized as a silencing spell.

"What are you doing?" Briar asked taking a step back and trying to discretely pull her wand from her pocket, wanting to stun him, she had never performed the spell before since it's too advanced for her, but she was hoping it would work.

However, she didn't get a chance to try as in less than a second Quirrell had pointed his wand at her said "Expelliamus" and her wand was no longer in her hand, instead clasped in Quirrell's own pale fingers.

"What's going on?" Briar demanded, narrowing her eyes at the man, trying to act braver than she was feeling.

"Oh, you know exactly what's going on, don't you Miss Potter?" Quirrell told her slyly.

Briar eyes widened in shock when there was no stutter in his voice, she had thought it was fake, but she was still surprised to be proved right. Maybe Harry, Ron and Hermione shooting down her suspicions had had more of an effect on her than she thought.

"Yes, you've suspected me all along, but of course who would believe you over p-p-poor s-stuttering P-professor Quirrell" Quirrell continued with an evil smirk that looked unnatural on his sickly face.

"You're the one trying to steal the stone, but I thought Voldemort-" Briar started, but was cut off when Quirrell flinched.

"Do not say his name" Quirrell hissed.

Briar looked at him with narrowed eyes as she took another step back. She had seen lots of people flinch at Voldemort's name, most recently was Ron, however Quirrell's flinch was different than Ron's and it made rage lift its angry head inside of her.

"You don't want to hear your master's name?" Briar sneered through gritted teeth. "What do you think he'll hear?" she added with an unamused laugh.

"Of course he will, he's always with me" Quirrell replied.

The anger inside of her was replaced with confusion as she narrowed her eyes and looked around the office in fear. Almost expecting Voldemort to be standing behind her without her realising. What could he possibly mean by Voldemort always being with him?

"Let me see her" a voice hissed, but the voice didn't come from Quirrell.

It was a voice that she hadn't heard since she was two years old, one that managed to strike fear in everyone's hearts and that included hers.

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough... For this..."

Briar was frozen to the spot. She willed her legs to move but she couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, she watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot. Briar would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound instead her lips just parted in a silent yell. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Briar could now remember from her past with intense clarity. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Briar Rose Potter..." it whispered.

Briar tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move.

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour... I have form only when I can share another's body... But there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... You saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest... And once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own... Now...Why don't you give me the information I need…how do I get past that dog?..."

Of course. She had been telling Harry that she knew how to get past the dog as they were leaving. Quirrell must have over heard, and this also meant that…Voldemort…had heard too.

"I would never help you" Briar said quietly trying to sound brave, but her voice was quaking with fear.

"…I have ways to make you talk…" Voldemort hissed.

A moment later she was facing Quirrell again, his wand pointed at her. She tried to stumble backwards to avoid whatever spell he could throw at her, but his spell work was quicker.

"Crucio" Quirrell spat.

The red spell his her square in the chest.

She collapsed to the ground, wailing in pain. She had never felt anything like this. It felt like her bones were being crushed, her skin on fire, her veins melting and her head was exploding. She had heard of the Cruciatus curse, not many witches and wizards hadn't, but nothing she had ever heard could prepare for this pain.

She was aware a of a scream reaching her ears and wetness of her cheeks and it took her longer than she ever thought to realise that scream was coming from her own throat and the wetness was from tears of pain she didn't even realise she was releasing.

When the pain finally ceased her hands were shaking and she blinked tears from her eyes, trying to focus her vision. She turned her head and even that small movement hurt. She was met by Voldemort's vicious face again with a terrible smirk on his face.

"Let's try it again…are you going to tell me how to get past the dog…?" Voldemort said.

Briar steeled herself, swallowing painfully and only just managing to stutter "N-no" just louder than a whisper.

"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me...Or you'll meet the same end as your parents..."

Briar couldn't even bring herself to speak this time so she just shook her head.

A moment later the red spell was flying at her and she was screaming and writhing in agony again. Merlin, it hurt! How could anything hurt this badly? The torture went on for hours, each time she refused to give him the answer.

Briar used to think that pain was like jumping into cold water, it's a shock at first and you couldn't stop feeling it but eventually you get used to it. However, it didn't seem to apply to the cruciatus, if anything it was getting more and more painful and Briar hated the small part in herself that wanted to tell him how to get past Fluffy just so that she didn't have to go through this torture anymore.

She was only able to hold her tongue and her sanity by thinking of her family and friends. How disappointed would her parents be if she gave into Voldemort, when they never did? They stood up to him, they fought him in the Order of the Phoenix and she would be damned if she didn't.

"…Stop…we'll find another way…" Voldemort's voice hissed.

"But Master-" Quirrell tried to protest.

"No…Stun her" Voldemort's voice came.

Quirrell's pale face and raised wand as she gasped and shook was the last thing Briar saw before her whole world went black.

When Briar finally began to come to, her vision blurry, head pounding and body aching, she was in a strange chamber that she had never seen before. She turned her head weakly to look around and saw that the huge chamber was empty bar for her, the mirror of Erised, Quirrell and…was that Harry? He twin was tied while standing, looking at her in horror.

However, a second later her view of Harry was obstructed by Quirrell standing above her, his wand pointed at his chest, something she had seen a lot today and Briar automatically began to shake, almost as though her body was preparing itself for the pain.

"Girl, get up, look in the mirror and tell me what you see"

Briar wasn't sure why he was asking that and her body and head hurt too much to work it out, she could barely even think.

Briar swallowed, the movement hurting since her throat was sore from all her screaming.

She muttered "Screw you"

Quirrell's eyes flashed angrily and his grip tightened on his wand as he shouted "Crucio!"

Briar yet again began to scream, writhing on the floor in pain. She had almost forgotten how much it hurt. It felt like knives were stabbing at every inch of her and she was getting skinned alive. Her lungs were constricting, it felt like she was drowning. Tears escaped her eyes and she hugged her knees to her chest trying to contain the pain.

"I can't take it anymore. Make it stop, Harry. It hurts" Briar couldn't help but sob, she hated seeming weak but at the moment she was in so much pain she didn't care, she let out another agonizing scream.

"Stop, stop!" she distantly heard Harry scream desperately.

The pain finally cut of when Voldemort's voice said "Use the boy" and Briar finally stopped screaming, and lay panting, closing her eyes as she tried to control her shaking limbs from the remnants of pain that was still coursing through her body.

"Yes…Potter…come here" she heard Quirrell clap his hands once. "Come here" Quirrell repeated "look in the mirror and tell me what you see"

Briar forced her eyes open to see that Harry was slowly approaching the mirror, but she didn't have enough strength to even move, let alone help. She just hoped that he had a plan, or at least some miniscule idea of escape because she had nothing. Her thoughts were still a blur in her head, it was like they stuffed cotton wool into her brain to muffle everything.

Harry was now standing in front the Mirror.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently "What do you see?"

"I see myself shaking Hands with Dumbledore. I-I've won the house cup for Gryffindor" Harry said and Briar instantly could tell it was a lie, Harry wasn't that vain and his voice went a smidge higher.

Quirrell curse.

"Get out of the way" he said.

"He lies…he lies…" Voldemort's voice hissed.

Her vision went black again as she passed out from the pain that didn't seem to want to leave her body.

The second time Briar awoke, the first thing she heard was screams from two different people. She closed her eyes again and groaned not having the strength to do much else. However, a moment later her eyes snapped open again when she realised where she was. She had been in a chamber with Harry and Quirrell, that meant that if two people were screaming…one of them was her twin.

She forced herself to a standing position, it took more effort than she thought it would and hurt way more than it should have done.

Briar looked forward to see that there was a glint of red on the floor in the distance, the Sorcerer's Stone, however her attention was kept by the image of Harry grabbing onto Quirrell, both of them screaming in agony. Quirrell seemed to be blistering and melting under Harry's very touch.

"Harry! Harry!" Briar screamed, but her voice was hoarse.

She forced herself to move towards the pair, each step agony, but she didn't give a damn. She would walk through fire if it meant keeping Harry from getting hurt, he was the only family she had left. To Briar, he was the most important person in the world and it wasn't because he was the famous 'boy who lived' but because he was Harry, her twin brother.

Briar's gaze snapped away from the horrific scene when she heard a banging of a door being pushed open viciously. She was met with Dumbledore rushing into the room, his wand raised and his purple robes billowing as he hurried forward.

With a flick of his wand Quirrell was thrown off Harry and Briar was horrified to watch him began to melt into a pile of ashes, however a tiny part of her felt justice.

"Harry!" Dumbledore's voice called.

Briar turned from the ashes that remained of Quirrell to see that Harry was lying on the floor. He was still and pale. Dumbledore was crouching over him and Briar bit her lip as tears fell down her cheeks and her chest constricted when she realised she couldn't even tell if he was still breathing.

"Is he…?" Briar couldn't even stay the word.

"He's alive" Dumbledore answered, but Briar could see that his own shoulders sagged slightly with relief, he had obviously been fearing the worst just as she had.

Briar sighed, closing her eyes as she realised how close she had come to losing her twin. The idea hurt even more than the hours under the cruciatus.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and Harry was suddenly on a stretcher floating off of the ground. Briar took a few shaky steps forward before her vision began to blur and the room felt like it was spinning.

"Briar!" she heard Dumbledore's worried voice, but is sounded distant, she felt herself lose her footing and fell into blackness, down…down…down…

There was light. It was burning her eyes all she could see was brightness, unable to distinguish anything else, so she closed her eyes again. She stay like that food a few second before she opened them again.

She looked around at her surrounding and realised why it was so bright, it was because everything was white, she was lying in the hospital wing. Clad in her red and gold pyjamas and white sheets over her body.

Briar groaned in pain as she pushed herself up into a seat position.

She heard an answering groan from her left and her head snapped to the side, almost expecting it to be Quirrell/Voldemort wand raised, cruciatus at the ready. However what she was met with made her sigh in relief and give a small smile. Her Uncle Moony was asleep in a chair next to her bed, his body in the most awkward position ever.

Briar reach forward and shoved him with a shaky hand.

"Uncle Moony!" she only got another groan in reply and he shifted into an even more uncomfortable looking position "Moony, wake up!"

Her Uncle Moony's eyes snapped open and he shot up into a seating position, eyes darting around wildly as though expecting a threat. When he noticed Briar was awake his eyes widened and a relieve sigh left his lips.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" he exclaimed and pulled her into a tight hug.

She hid her wince in pain and forced herself to hug him back. Briar was glad her Uncle Moony was hear, she hadn't heard from him in so long, she didn't want to do anything that would make him leave.

"How are you? Are you okay? Dumbledore told me what happened, I'm sorry that I wasn't-" he ranted worriedly.

"Moony!" Briar cut in making him stop and bite his lip "I'm fine." She lied, she could still feel remnant of the cruciatus in her veins.

"You most certainly are not!" A sharp voice cut in and Briar's head snapped over to it so fast that her vision blurred for a moment.

It was Madame Pomfrey.

The Matron hurried over with a stern gaze and shot a glare at her Uncle Moony that made him move from her bed to sit back on the chair, but he perched himself on the very edge, trying to stay as close as possible.

Madame Pomfrey reached over and grabbed her hands in her own to study them. It was only then that Briar realised how badly she was shaking, every finger was shivering. She tried to force her hands back under control but found herself unable to.

"Is that…" Uncle Moony whispered in horror.

Madame Pomfrey nodded solemnly and Briar looked down at her own shaking hands to avoid the pitying look the Matron was giving her.

"Yes" Madame Pomfrey said "she's showing signs of the cruciatus, she must have been under it for a few ours at least" she turned to Briar forcing her to look at her "follow the light with your eyes"

A second later Madame Pomfrey was holding her lit wand in front of her face and moved it from side to side a few times before touching it to her nose. Briar followed it as best as she could, but it was blurry.

"It's not quite perfect" Madame Pomfrey sighed. "Are you still in pain?"

Briar opened her mouth to tell her the same thing as she told uncle Moony, but the werewolf cut in saying "And don't lie Bambi"

Briar sighed "Yeah, I am"

Madame Pomfrey nodded.

"I'm going to get you some pain relieving potions" she turned to her Uncle Moony "I am trusting you enough to not disturb her"

Uncle Moony nodded.

"Briar I've been so worried, you've been out for two days" he said once the Matron left "I just kept thinking how I haven't written to you and the last thing we spoke about was me wanting you to leave"

"It's okay" Briar said quietly, biting her lip.

"No it's not" he said sternly "I was doing what I thought was best , but-"

"No you weren't" Briar cut in.

There was silence for a moment.

"What?" asked Uncle Moony, voice just louder than a whisper.

Briar finally lifter her head to meet his eyes and she glared at him.

"You weren't doing what you thought was best, you were being selfish. You couldn't bear to look at me with the bandages and deal with the guilt so you would rather me leave the only family I've known, you by the way, rather than face your feelings" Briar told him, the words rushing from her lips, finally able to get this off her chest, it had been bothering her since he had first sent her back to Hogwarts at Christmas.

Uncle Moony looked ready to protest, but looked away when Briar rose a challenging brow.

"I just – I just thought you would rather leave" he said dejectedly.

"Why?" Briar asked in confusion, her eyes filling with tears.

"Because – because I'm a monster" he said, meeting her eyes again.

Briar was silent for a moment. She knew he felt like that, she had always known, she could see it so clearly, his self-hate and low self-esteem, but this was the first time she had heard him speak of it out loud.

"You're being dramatic. You sort your book in order of how much you've read them, Uncle Moony. Forgive me if I'm not trembling at the sight of you" Briar said finally cracking a small smirk.

Uncle Moony looked at her for a moment before giving a small chuckle.

Briar let out a relieve sigh. She didn't show it but she was scared her uncle Moony was going to leave her, leave her like everyone else had. She didn't think she could bear it if that happened. How much loss could one person take?

"Right, drink this immediately" Madame Pomfrey said as she bustled over with a tray of two potions in her hand.

One potion was shoved into Briar's shaking hand and she looked at it sceptically before bringing to her lips. Almost instantaneously she felt a soothing felling spread through her body, almost as though her blood was turned to syrup and she felt the pain ebbing away.

"And this one" The Matron said as soon as she had downed the pain relieving potion, shoving the second potion into her hand.

Briar drank it, swallowing it as quickly as she could so that she didn't have to dwell on the taste. She frowned when she didn't feel any different, but a moment later she felt her eye lid go heavy and her body go slack so that she had to lie back down.

"What was that?" she slurred.

"A dreamless sleep potion" was the last thing she heard before she was unconscious again.

Once again when Briar woke up she wasn't alone, but this time instead of being met by her sleeping godfather, she saw a white beard and blue eyes sparkling behind half-moon glasses.

"Good afternoon, Briar" said Dumbledore.

Briar stared at him for a moment.

"Hello, sir" she said hesitantly. Then she remembered: "Sir! I don't understand what happened! Quirrell he turned to ash and Harry! What happened to him? Is he okay?!"

"Calm yourself, dear girl, Harry's perfectly fine" said Dumbledore.

Briar followed Dumbledore's gaze and saw her twin lying unconscious on a bed not far from hers. She sighed in relief, but she still felt worry swirling in her stomach.

It was only then that Briar noticed that the table between their beds was piled high with what looked like half of Honeydukes, labelled for both her and Harry.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you, Harry and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you both a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

Briar's lips twitched at her best friends antics.

"How long have we been in here now?" Briar asked.

"Three days. Mr Lee Jordon, Messrs Fred, George and Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"What about Harry, is he okay?" Briar asked, and reached across to the other bed to push a lock of Harry's identical messy black hair off of his forehead.

"Harry will be fine." The headmaster assured her and Briar gave a small nod.

"Sir, What about the stone?" Briar asked.

"It has been destroyed." He replied simply.

"Destroyed?" said Briar blankly "But your friend…Nicolas Flamel…"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best. "

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Briar's face. "To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all…the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

"Voldemort hasn't been destroyed has he?" Briar whispered, feeling scared of what the answer was going to be.

"No, Briar, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share...Not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Briar, while Harry may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time…and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

"When I woke up the second time, Quirrell was blistering under Harrys hands. Why couldn't Quirrell touch him?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you both leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. Because of Voldemort's curse it is in Harry's very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch Harry for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Briar nodded, not quite sure she understand but decided to leave it. Dumbledore left soon after that, assuring her that it wouldn't be long before he returned to explain things to Harry when he woke up.

A couple of hours later Madame Pomfrey had forced another pain relieving potion down her throat to stop her shaking hands and had sent her back to the common room. As soon as she entered the room went silent before exploding with whispers. Briar stood awkwardly just in front of the portrait hole, biting her lip. Normally she loved attention, but this kind wasn't welcome.

This was why Briar was almost relieve when she was ambushed by Hermione's hug and Ron's relieved clap on her back. The three of them spent the next hour in the quietest corner of the common room explaining the story to each other as best as they could, however they knew they wouldn't be able to get the full story before Harry woke up.

She couldn't believe everything the others had gone through. Getting past Fluffy with Hagrid flute, then devils snare, catching a winger key on brooms, Ron getting attacked when winning a giant chess set and Hermione solving Snivillus' riddle. However, after that is a complete blank. Briar told them what she was there for, but it wasn't much. She still had no clue how Harry had even gotten the Sorcerer's stone or what the mirror had to do with anything.

After she said goodbye to the pair of them she went up to the third year dorm where Angelina Johnson, a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had told her Fred and George was.

When Briar entered the room, Fred and George stared at her for a moment in silent shock before they rushed forward and pulled her into the tightest hug imaginable.

"You're okay!" Fred shouted.

"You have no idea how worried we were!" George said in a relieved voice "What happened?"

The two of them ushered her over to Fred's bed so that the three of them could sit down.

"We've heard rumours, but honestly they're all as ridiculous as they next" Fred said.

Briar then began to explain the situation to the pair of them, starting with their very first suspicions about what Fluffy was hiding. Fred and George were quite miffed about everything she had kept from them, especially that there was an actual dragon on the same grounds as them, however when she got to the part about the cruciatus, the pair of them went pale and hugged her even tighter than before.

Briar had never seen this type of emotion on the twins before. She hadn't realised how much they hated the idea of her getting hurt. Although, she should have, they were best friends after all.

That night when Briar went to bed, she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she was met by Voldemort's glowing red eyes, the same shade as the spell as she relived the most horrific pain she had ever went through.

When it reached two in the morning Briar finally gave up on the idea that she could go to sleep without nightmare and went down to the common room. She sat on the settee in front of the fire, staring at the embers as she glared down at her shaking hands, annoyed that she was unable to control them.

"Briar?" Briar's head snapped towards the tired voice. It was Lee, clad in pyjamas and rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing up?"

"I can't sleep" Briar told him softly "what about you?"

"The same" Lee sighed, sitting down heavily next to her on the settee.

"Why?" she asked.

"My grandmother past away"

Her head snapped towards him with a sad look. She knew how much he loved the woman. He told her how she was the first one to teach him to read, she gave the best hugs since she wore warm sweaters and smelt of strawberries and she would visit every Saturday with brilliant stories of make-believe places.

"I'm sorry" Briar told him sympathetically.

She didn't pity him, she knew exactly what it was like to lose a family member. No matter what age you are when you lose them, it always hurts and you always miss them.

"Yeah, well…" Lee said awkwardly "Why can't you sleep?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Nightmares of what happened and the fact that my twin is in the hospital wing" Briar told him, swallowing in the way she always did when she didn't want to cry.

"What exactly happened anyway?" Lee asked.

"I don't want to talk about it" Briar said softly.

"Right, sorry, that was stupid of me" he sighed "Everything will work out. I know it will, you're the strongest person I know"

"Thanks, Lee" Briar told him with a smile, the weight on her shoulder feeling lighter at her friend's words.

She then gave Lee a hug, however when she was pulling away she realised how close she and Lee were. He smelt of oranges he always ate and his eyes were such a deep brown, like melting chocolate.

Abruptly, Lee scooted forward and pressed him lips to Briar's, who eye's fluttered closed. She couldn't help but relax her stature and give into the kiss. He smelt like oranges and tasted of toothpaste. Her senses gave a sudden jolt and she moved to press closer to him and wrap her hands around his neck.

After a minute or so Briar pulled away and couldn't help but smirk slightly when it took Lee a little longer to open his eyes and his pupils were blown out.

"Wow" Lee whispered.

"Yeah, wow" Briar repeated, a smile blooming on his lips and she linked her fingers with his and rested her head on his shoulder.

The next day when Briar, Hermione and Ron were informed that Harry had awoken they rushed to the hospital wing without a second thought. Madam Pomfrey was a nice woman, but very strict.

"Just five minutes," Briar pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"You let Professor Dumbledore in" Harry protested

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different" Madame Pomfrey said. "You need your rest" she snapped.

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey..." Harry begged looking at her with pleading green eyes.

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."

And she finally let Briar, Ron and Hermione in.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted and looked ready to fling her arms around him, but she held herself in as and Briar had to do the same as she suspected his head was still very sore. "Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to…Dumbledore was so worried…"

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that…what was it 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure?"

"I always said he was off his rocker, he said the same thing to me" laughed Briar, looking quite impressed at how crazy he was.

"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round…that took a while…and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall…he already knew- he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did…I mean to say that's terrible…you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Briar thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give him a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea you were going to try, and instead of stopping you, he just taught you enough to help."

"Yeah" Harry agreed "I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right, " said Ron proudly "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course…you two missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you both…but the food'll be good."

They sat in silence for a moment before Briar couldn't stand it and broke it.

"Now he's awake can I say I told you so? I said it was Quirrell the whole time" Briar asked with a tiny smirk. Briar winced when Hermione hit her on the arm. "You know for a goody two shoes you're very violent."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT" she said firmly.

Briar was glad to see that Harry had been allowed to come to the feast, but was she wasn't glad to see was the Great Hall. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row, which made Briar wrinkle her nose in disgust. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into the empty seats between Ron and Hermione, opposite Briar and the twins, at the Gryffindor table and he clearly tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him. Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were...You have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, five hundred and twenty-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Briar could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account." The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. "Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes. First…to Mr Ronald Weasley... " Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn "For the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!" At last there was silence again.

"Second…to Miss Hermione Granger…For the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Hermione buried her face in her arms; Briar strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves…they were a hundred points up. "Third…to Miss Briar Potter…for her great will power and loyalty even in the most dire of situations and fourth to Mr Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet "for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The cheers and clapping was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had five hundred and twenty-two points exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup… if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point. Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, Briar and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron and Briar in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him. It was wonderful.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Briar thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Snivillus was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile.

Briar had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. Briar had gotten great grades, second only to Hermione. Although she knew she would do well, she even managed to scrape a pass grade in Herbology, which surprised her. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these, " said Fred sadly).

Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Botts Every Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

After hugging the twins as tightly as she could and assurances that she would right and ask her Uncle Moony about staying at the Burrow for some time in the summer, she went over Lee to say goodbye to him.

"So…" Lee trailed off, pursing his lips.

"So…"Briar repeated "this isn't awkward at all"

"Yeah" Lee snorted "Okay, look, the truth is, I don't want to forget the kiss and go back to being friends, so, Briar, will you go out with me?"

"Yes" Briar replied softly.

Lee's resultant grin was blinding, he pulled her into a tight hug and after kissing her cheek and promising to write he left for his family.

Briar turned with a pleased smile to see Harry, Ron and Hermione so rushed over to them to say goodbye.

"You must come and stay this summer," Ron was saying to Harry, "You and Hermione…I'll send you an owl, Fred and George told me they had already asked Briar"

"Yeah they have" Briar said, smirking slightly when the three of them jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to"

People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called: "Bye, Harry!" and "See you, Potter!" along with people saying goodbye to Briar, who had become very popular from all her pranking, not to mention stopping the Slytherins from hexing people in the corridors.

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at Harry.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.

Briar frowned at the thought of their horrible Muggle relatives that she had yet to meet. After the stories Harry told her, she wanted nothing more than go around there and scare the living daylights out of them.

Briar, Harry, Ron, and Hermione passed through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mom, there he is, look!" It was Ginny Weasley, the twins and Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron. "Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point." Mrs Weasley smiled down at them. "Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry.

"Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs Weasley." Briar said with another of her charming smiles.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

"Ready, are you?" It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still moustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

Harry hung back for a last word with Ron, Briar and Hermione. "See you over the summer, then."

"Goodbye little brother, see you later in the summer" Briar said, giving him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hope you have…err…a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.

"Of course he will" Briar said with a smirk, causing Harry along with Ron and Hermione to look at her, confused, so she added "They don't know you're not allowed to use magic at home"

A grin broke out on Harry's face "I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer…"

Briar laughed as Harry left with their relatives before she took off at a run, noticing a familiar scarred face in the crowd.


	14. The Best Birthday

Chapter Thirteen

_The Best Birthday_

For the first time in a while Briar was truly happy on her birthday, her hazel eyes were light and happy and there was a permanent grin etched on her face. Normally, the 31st July was spent sitting in the living room with her Uncle Moony, a few small presents and a take-away from a muggle shop from the next town over, however, this time the house was full: her uncle Moony had invited the Weasley's and Granger's over for a party.

Zingy had cooked a table of food surrounding a huge birthday cake saying '_Happy 12__th__ Birthday, Briar'_.

Jean and Tony (Mr and Mrs Granger who had insisted she call them by their first names in their excitement of meeting their daughter's first friend) looked extremely awkward being inside a wizarding household, jumping each time they glimpsed the moving pictures (the one of Briar's animagus form had been moved) and it didn't help that currently Mr Weasley was excitedly asking them about every muggle object he could think of.

Her Uncle Moony was currently talking to Mrs Weasley, ranging from catching up to her worrying about how thin he was and how Zingy, who was thoroughly offended at the very suggestion, should be feeding him more.

Hermione and Ron, who was already stuffing his face, were sitting on the settee and looked as though they had already begun to have an argument over something. Briar spotted Ginny Weasley laughing at the pair of them, so whatever it was it must have been stupid. This was the first time Briar had met the youngest Weasley, but she was already quite fond of her.

Briar tightened her hold on the butterbeer in her hand, she loved the idea of having more people to celebrate with, but it was strange, she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. she spotted the twins and Lee off in the corner of the Kitchen and a smile appeared on her face at the sight of her boyfriend. Merlin, that was weird to say.

Briar began to make her way over to them but the way was blocked by Percy.

"Happy birthday, Briar" he adjusted his glasses "Hopefully now that you're older you'll be more mature. I'm sure you could still make prefect if you get your act together now" Percy added pompously.

Briar bit her lip to stop herself from scoffing in amusement at the very idea she could be mature, and why in the world would she want to be a _prefect_? It would suck all the fun out of life. Then again she could take points of the Slytherin's for every greasy hair on their head of house's, Snivillus', head.

"Yeah. Thanks Percy, I'm sure I will" said Briar dryly before moving around him and hurrying over to the twin.

As soon as she got over to them Lee smile and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side and twins shot her identical grins.

"Your brother's a prat" Briar told the twins.

"Which one?" Fred scoffed.

Briar didn't answer, instead just nodded in the direction of Percy, who was now talking to a very bored looking Uncle Moony. Briar was sure that despite having been a prefect when he was in Hogwarts her Uncle Moony always preferred being with pranksters. And no matter how much he denied it she knew he liked how when the Weasley twins were first introduced they seemed to be in awe of him.

"Ah, perfect prefect Percy" George added with a knowing look in his eyes.

"What did he do now?" Fred asked.

"He's under the delusion that now I'm twelve I'll be more mature"

There was a sputtering sound next to her as Lee choked on the butterbeer he had just sipped, making Fred and George laugh at his misfortune.

"Don't say things like that when I'm drinking" sputtered Lee, whipping his win with the arm that wasn't around her.

"I'm sorry" she told her, but her tone wasn't in the least bit apologetic, but she kissed his cheek which seemed to cheer him up anyway.

Briar looked around where they were standing and noticed that they were in a position where they could see the rest of the party but everyone else probably wouldn't notice them unless they were looking.

"Why exactly are you three standing in the corner?" Briar asked with furrowed brows.

"Well, Lee was standing here alone-" Fred started.

"-So being the good friends we are we came to join him" George finished with an 'innocent' smile.

"Naturally" Briar said dryly with a roll of her eyes "So what's the real reason?" she asked Lee.

"Well, I don't think Mr Lupin likes that you have a boyfriend since he hasn't stopped glaring at me since I turned up. And to be honest" Lee lowered his voice to a whisper "he scares me"

Briar laughed. She couldn't imagine her Uncle Moony scaring anyone. Thanks to his 'furry little problem' he looked scarred and sickly and was already turning grey. However, Briar supposed that since Lee knew he was a Marauder there was the undertone of knowing the brains of the best pranksters in Hogwarts history was glaring at him.

Briar was about to reply when he heard the familiar tapping that signalled an owl and she rushed over to the kitchen window when she saw Onyx was on the other side and let her in. Onyx gave her an affectionate nip and she stroked her feathers in return.

She looked at Onyx's leg for a reply, but was disappointed when she didn't see one. Briar had written to her brother inviting him to her house but hadn't gotten a reply so she just assumed he couldn't come, so she had written him a birthday card and sent to him but it seems she hasn't got a response for that either.

Briar was starting to get worried at her brother's lack of response, she was sure he would be desperate to communicate with someone else when he was stuck with the Dursleys.

She quickly went over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting on the settee.

"Oh honestly Ronald, do you even stop to breathe?" Hermione was saying, rolling her brown eyes as Ron stuffed another cauldron cake in his mouth.

"What? I'm hungry" Ron replied around a mouthful making Hermione's upper lip to curl in disgust.

"Oh leave him 'Mione, Zingy's food's amazing you can't not eat it" Briar said as she sat down next to them, grabbing a cauldron cake for herself.

"See, Briar gets it" Ron said smugly as he swallowed.

Hermione narrowed her eyes "Yes, but-"

"-No wait" Briar cut in "I actually came over for a reason. Have you two heard from, Harry? I sent him a bunch of letters but Onyx keeps coming back without a reply"

"No, I figured it was just Errol, she's not the most reliable of birds. Haven't you two heard from him either then?" Ron asked.

Briar and Hermione shook her head, the latter of which bit her lip worriedly.

"Well what do you thinks the matter? Do you think it's those Muggles he lives with? You know how terrible they treat him" Hermione said and Briar frowned not liking the thought of her twin being mistreated.

"Tell you what, I'm going to Ron's tonight and if we haven't heard from him in the next few days, we'll go get him" Briar said with a firm nod, leaving no room for argument.

Hermione and Ron didn't get a chance to answer as in that moment Mrs Weasley and her uncle Moony decided it was about time she opened her presents.

Her first present was an old book on magical creatures and overly sticky fudge from Hagrid. She then got another warm, knitted sweater from Mr and Mrs Weasley, only this one was bright red. Off Fred and George she got a locket containing a moving picture of the three of them, smiling and waving at the camera, she thought it was wonderful and promised that she would never take it off.

When she opened Hermione's gift a silky flurry of material fell onto her lap and she held it up, her eyes going wide.

"I don't know much about wizarding fashion" Hermione told her with a nervous smile "but Madame Malkin at the robe shop told me that it should suit you went I described you to her"

Briar smiled and gave Hermione a hug and thanks the Jean and Peter. She thought the robes were beautiful they were a deep burgundy colour with a sparkly silver trim and ruffled cuffs. For someone who came from a muggle family Hermione had good taste in robes.

Her uncle Moony handed her the next parcel and as soon as he did her eye widened with excitement at the shape of it. It was so obvious what it was. She ripped the parcel open and sure enough inside was a broom. The handle was sleek mahogany and the twigs were perfectly in line. Briar stroked the wood gently and ran the tips of her fingers over the golden letter that read 'Nimbus Two Thousand'.

It was her very own.

"I've been saving up for this since you first got you Hogwarts letter" explained Uncle Moony "I wanted to get you the latest model, but I couldn't afford it. I hope you like it"

"Of course I like it!" Briar burst out, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she chanted, surging forward and pulling her godfather into a tight thankful hug, before pulling away to gaze at her new broom some more.

A second later Ron, Fred and George were also looking at her broom despite the fact that Harry had one of the same model, a new broom was always an exciting prospect. She agreed to let the three Weasleys have a ride and the four of them rushed outside to the large expanse of greenery behind the house in order to fly without Muggles seeing them.

Not long after she, Ron, Fred and George came back inside, faces flushed and hair messier from the wind, the Grangers had to go home and the Mr Weasley took the Weasley children home in their turquoise car, Mrs Weasley staying behind to help Zingy and Uncle Moony clean up ready to apparate Briar to the burrow when she was ready to leave.

Now only Lee remained with her.

"Are you ready for your birthday present?" Lee asked her with a small smile.

Briar grinned excitedly, she was wondering when she was going to get a present from her boyfriend, when she was opening all her other gifts she was starting to think he hadn't gotten her anything.

"I'm always ready for presents" Briar grinned, looking up at him with happy hazel eyes.

"Okay, well you need to put this on" Lee told her holding up a blindfold.

Briar eyed the dark materially before looking at her boyfriend sceptically taking it from him.

"This isn't like the time Fred told me to close my eyes and he and George turned me blue is it?" Briar asked, narrowing her eyes.

Lee laughed at the memory, but his laugh was quickly cut short when her eyes narrowed further and he tried to cover it up with a cough.

"No" he told her.

She eyed the blindfold again before reluctantly turning around and letting Lee tie the blindfold over her eyes, obstructing her vision.

"This better not mess up my hair" Briar grumbled.

"Like your hair could get any worse" Lee scoffed and Briar tried to reach around to smack him but thanks to the fact she was blindfolded he easily dodged her with a laugh.

Briar held tightly on Lee's arm as he led her through the house, trying to focus on her steps as she knew they were going to the living room, she could easily walk through this house with her eyes closed, but she's rather not trip over anything anyone had left from the party.

"Mr Lupin is going to apparate us" Lee told her when they came to a stop.

Briar's brows furrowed, but her confused look was hidden behind the blindfold.

"What? How far away is my present?" asked Briar, but Lee didn't answer.

Lee didn't answer. Not soon after she felt her Uncle Moony's hand grip her arm instead and she gasped as she felt the familiar sensation of getting sucked through a tube, her insides getting squeezed, making her feel slightly nauseas just as she always did.

Briar shook her head to clear it when she felt solid ground beneath her feet again and judging by the coldness they were somewhere outside. She heard the tell-tale crack that showed her uncle Moony had left.

"Ugh…I am never doing that again" Lee's voice groaned, he sounded rather sick.

"It's gets better don't worry" Briar chuckled "So where's this present?"

"It's right here, you can take the blindfold off now" replied Lee.

Briar grinned and hastily yanked the blindfold from her eyes, ruffling her hair into an acceptable position. When she looked at her surroundings her breathe hitched and the smile slipped from her face.

She recognized where she was instantly, she had been here many times before. She was in the Godric's hollow cemetery and in front of her was the familiar marble grave engraved with her parent's names, births and deaths, and the quote from the bible.

She turned to Lee with a questioning look.

"I wanted to do something meaningful since we're together now, so I asked Mr Lupin. He told me that you hadn't visited your parents since Christmas so I thought…" Lee looked more nervous than she had ever seen him.

"Thank you" Briar whispered, giving him a tight hug, trying to show all her feelings into the action.

Briar pulled away and sat down in front of her parents grave, Lee sitting next to her.

"Hey mum, hey dad" Briar greeted softly "sorry I haven't visited lately. It's my birthday today and my boyfriend gave me the best gift ever" Briar shot Lee a smile "This is Lee Jordon, I think I told you about him on Christmas."

"Hey Mr and Mrs Potter, your daughter's amazing" Lee said, wrapping his arm around her.

Briar smiled.

"Uncle Moony got me a Nimbus Two Thousand, I bet you're pleased with that dad, Uncle Moony told me you almost fainted when grandma and granddad Potter got you a new broom" Briar said with a small watery laugh.

Briar began to tell her parents about everything that happened during her first year at Hogwarts and about the plot with Quirrell and Professor Quirrell. She even told them about the cruciatus and her nightmares. They had dwindled over the summer but she still got them now and again, she was starting to understand what it must have been like for people who survived the first wizarding war.

Lee just sat next to her silently, rubbing her arm comfortingly when she needed it. She could tell he was listening carefully though, still not having heard the full story.

After she was finished talking she and Lee sat there silently for a long time, Lee's arm around her shoulder and her head resting on his shoulder so that her messy black hair mingled with his dread locks.

"I miss them" said Briar finally, breaking the silence.

"I know" Lee replied quietly, kissing the top of her head and pulling her into a hug.

When Uncle Moony turned up in the graveyard with a crack he apparated them both back home before taking Lee back to the Jordon's. while he did that, Zingy helped her collect her things together before Molly apparated her to the Weasleys.

This was her first time visiting the burrow and Briar thought it was amazing, with its mismatched wonders Briar thought it suited the Weasleys perfectly.

It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked that Briar suspected the only reason it was still standing was because it was held up with magic. Four or five chimneys were perched on the top of the red roof.

A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read: 'The Burrow.' Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the year.

It turns out that the Burrow wasn't that far from her house still in the area around Ottery St. Catchpole. In fact, if she went to Ron's room on the top floor she could see her small house in the distance.

"Come on, dear" Mrs Weasley said with a warm, motherly smile, "I'll get the boys to help you take your trunk upstairs"

Mrs Weasley flicked her wand and levitated her trunk into the kitchen and Briar followed her, clutching Onyx's cage in her arms.

"Hey, Mr Weasley" Briar greeted the red haired man as she spotted him sitting at the long kitchen table reading a copy of the daily profit.

"What? Oh, hello, Briar" Mr Weasley said, looking up from his paper.

Briar hot him a smile before looking around at the place she would be staying for the rest of the summer.

The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle. The clock on the wall opposite her had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like _Time to make tea_, _Time to feed the chickens_, and _You're late_. Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like _Charm Your Own Cheese_, _Enchantment in Baking_, and _One Minute Feasts - It's Magic_!

The books were so different from the ones at her house which were mainly DADA, Potion and Transfiguration books and a lot of books on werewolves and animagi, as well as all the Care of Magical Creatures books Briar had collected over the years. Her uncle Moony even had a few muggle books which had been passed down to him from his muggle mother when she died.

Briar liked staying with the Weasley's, even if it meant she had to put up with Percy more than she'd like, but he was a good victim for hers and the twin's pranks. After much begging on her, Fred and George's parts they had managed to convince Mrs Weasley to let her stay in their room with them rather than with Ginny.

She was able to spend a lot of time experimenting with Zonkos products with the twins, meaning explosions coming from their room wasn't uncommon. One they set the curtains on fire and they hurried to pat it out and by the time Mrs Weasley came to help it had spread to George's bed and she had screamed herself hoarse as she put it out with her wand. She made Briar, Fred and George clean the dishes without magic that night.

"You know," Fred started musingly.

He was looking down at the biting tea cup that they combined with a fanged Frisbee. Fred had to hold onto the object with a tight grip to avoid getting bit with it new snapping fangs.

"If we had a joke shop we could sell lots of things like this" Fred finished.

George eyes seemed to light up with the idea.

"Yeah, I bet we could come up with loads more ideas than Zonkos" George said eagerly.

"Like…sweets that make you ill" Fred nodded.

"Why would you want sweets that make you ill?" Briar asked curiously.

"To get you out of lesson, duh" Fred and George replied simultaneously and a slow grin appeared on her face as she thought about the possibilities, running a joke shop really would be perfect for Fred and George.

Staying with the Weasleys also let her get to know Ginny a lot better. She was starting to see her as a little sister and was mentally vowing to spend at least some time with her when she started Hogwarts this year.

Ginny was very sweet and extremely talkative, Briar was starting to see that with a little push the girl could become a brilliant protégé. She had Fred and George's mischievousness, Percy's smarts and she had Ron's tendency to mouth off.

One thing that was painstakingly obvious about Ginny is how enraptured with Harry she was. Briar had noticed that Ginny could often be talking to her brothers and go strangely silent when Briar walked in. at first she thought she was talking about her, but now she realised that she had been talking about Harry and didn't want Briar to know and tell her twin.

The only reason she had found out is that one day she_ happened_ to have been in Ginny's bedroom and _happened_ to find the younger girls diary and maybe she just _happened_ to read it.

Briar was sitting cross legged on Ginny's flowery bed covers, her diary on her lap when Ginny entered. Ginny jumped in surprise when she noticed her before relaxing when she saw who it was. However, her eyes flickered from the teasing look on Briar's face to her diary and back again.

Ginny let out a squeak and snatched the diary from Briar.

"So, you like Harry?" Briar smirked, her hazel eyes glinting with mirth.

Ginny flushed as red as her hair.

"You can't tell him!" she exclaimed "he would hate me if he found out I liked him! He's so great, all the stories Ron told me and I've heard you talking about him"

Briar laughed at the love struck expression on the eleven year old's face.

"And just why would I keep quiet about this when I have so much teasing I could do?" Briar with her brows raised in amusement.

"Because – because…I'll tell mum that it was you who let the garden gnomes loose in the kitchen not Ron" Ginny said strongly with a smug look on her face.

Briar narrowed her eyes at the red-head before a smirk slowly spread on her face.

"Are you blackmailing me?" Briar asked, amused, and Ginny nodded. "Looks like I was write about you. We may make a prankster out of you yet"

Ginny blushed at the praise, the tips of her ears reddening just as her brothers' did when they were embarrassed, but she had a small smile on her face.

"You want to ask Harry out then?" Briar asked "because you lo-ove him" she added in a sing song voice, making a kissy face.

"No. I want him to ask me." Ginny hurried forward to sit with Briar on the bed "You have a boyfriend, how did you know he liked you?"

"Well, I kind of figured out when he kissed me" Briar added in a faux thoughtful voice before laughing and clapping Ginny on the back when her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Speaking of Harry, she and Ron had been sending him a lot of letters with Onyx and Errol but still hadn't gotten any reply and the few letters they received from Hermione told them she got the same results.

In fact, they had no idea what was going on with him until Friday.

They were sitting at the kitchen table, Briar and George throwing bits of sausage at Fred so that he could catch them in his mouth, when Mr Weasley came into the kitchen tiredly, having been up most of the night working at the Ministry.

Mr Weasley worked at the misuse of Muggle artefacts office. He often returned from work with tales of regurgitating toilets, shrinking teas and spurting tea pots. The ones that weren't dangerous (Such as glasses that made you go blind) Briar found extremely entertaining.

"Fred, Briar, stop throwing food at George!" Mrs Weasley shouted as she set a plate in front of her husband.

Briar and the twins snickered at the fact she had gotten her sons mixed up, but did as they were told. Briar began to copy Ron's actions from her right and stuff her face as quickly as she could. Mrs Weasley cooked almost as well as Zingy does.

"Briar, your brother's Harry Potter isn't he?" Mr Weasley asked as he rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses tiredly.

"Yes" said Briar with furrowed brows "why do you ask?"

"I heard from Justin Kript down in the underage magic office and apparent he got a warning for a levitation charm" Mr Weasley explained and Briar's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?!" Exclaimed Ron around a mouthful of food.

"Ron, don't speak while your mouth is full!" Mrs Weasley snapped, hitting Ron with a dishtowel before she turned to her husband and her voice softened "Really, Arthur? Oh that poor dear, I hope he's alright"

"I'd say Bambi's the _Deer_" Fred muttered to George with a snicker and Briar glared at the pair of them.

"Shut up, prats" Briar hissed at them in annoyance, but they just grinned at her.

The last week Briar, Fred, George and Ron had been planning ways to get Harry in between playing furiously competitive games of Quidditch. Briar shared a glance with Ron, it seemed with Mr Weasley's new information they were actually going to go through with it. Tonight.


	15. Saving Harry

Chapter Fourteen

_Saving Harry_

"You two know how to drive this thing don't you?" Ron hissed to Fred and George.

The four of them were currently outside The Burrow in the dead of night, Fred holding his dad's car keys in his hands as they crept towards the car. Briar frowning as she looked up at the full moon in the sky, wondering how her Uncle Moony was doing, hopefully his new source of the Wolfsbane potion was better than the last.

"Of course we do" Fred rolled his eyes as he unlocked the car.

Briar climbed into the back seat of the car with Ron as Fred got behind the well and George in the passenger seat. Briar wasn't worried about having two fourteen year olds driving. Since she had been at the Weasleys the twins had taken her out in their dad's car a couple of time, they were surprisingly good at it.

She had actually driven the car a couple of times and she was fairly good at it, forgetting the two times she almost drove into a tree, but to be fair, she is twelve.

It took a couple of hours to get to Harry's house and despite the tiredness Briar could feel itching behind her eyes, she couldn't allow them to close as she felt two worried about what condition they would find her twin in. what id Aunt Petunia hasn't been feeding him? Or worse if uncle Vernon had been hitting him? Harry had never said anything about physical abuse other than their cousin Dudley beating him up, but it was hard not to suspect the worst.

Briar frowned when they reached Privet Drive where the Durselys lived. It was hard to distinguish where they were as every house and garden were the same, even the cars in the driveway were similar.

"Why would you want to live in a house that's identical to everyone else's?" Briar muttered looking at the street with distaste.

"Muggles are weird" shrugged Ron as though it explained everything and Briar supposed it was as good an explanation as any.

"Where does Harry live again?" Fred called from the driver's seat.

"Number four" she answered.

A few seconds later they were pulling to a stop outside one of the identical houses in the street with the perfectly mowed lawn, trimmed hedges and polished car.

"How are we supposed to get him?" Ron asked "we don't know which bedroom is his"

"I'm going to go with that one" said George, pointing.

Briar frowned and looked to the window he was gesturing to. When she did she had to grit her teeth and clench her fingers into fists. It was a good thing she hadn't bought her wand with her because that was the only reason she wasn't storming in there and hexing her Muggle Relatives into snivelling puddles.

The window had black metal bars in front of it, the gaps between them clearly too thin for an owl to get through, let alone Harry.

Fred pulled the car up closer to the window.

"Can you see him?" Fred asked.

Briar shoved Ron back when he tried to climb over her to have a look through the window and wound down the car window to have a look herself. through the bars she caught a glimpse of a messy head of black hair in a small bed as Harry slept.

"Yeah, this is his room alright" Briar said, but it came out more like an angry growl at the treatment of her brother. "He's sleeping."

"Well then what do we do? We can't wake him without waking the others in the house" Fred said, turning to look at the other three in the car in question.

"Just flick the headlights on or something" George shrugged.

Fred did as he was told and light shone brightly into Harry's window, lighting up the small bedroom and Briar saw the lump that was Harry shit slightly as though trying to get away from the light.

"It's not working" Ron groaned in annoyance as he leaned close to her so they could both look through the bedroom window.

Briar frowned. she reached forward and grabbed the bars on the window, rattling them impatiently, trying to wake him up.

"Bambi, the others will wake up" George hissed.

"Well, let them, I'd like to give them a piece of my mind anyway" Briar snapped, continuing to rattle the bars.

"Stop it" She heard Harry mutter quietly, but it didn't sound like he was fully awake yet "Leave me alone…cut it out…I'm trying to sleep…"

Briar didn't listen to his sleepy muttering and rattled the bars harder. She let out a relieved sigh when Harry's emerald green eyes, identical to their mother's, snapped open and set eyes on her.

"Bambi? Ron?" breathed Harry, creeping up to the window and pushing it up so that they could talk through the bars "Bambi, how did you…? What the…?"

"Hey there, little bother" Briar greeted.

She couldn't stop the smirk appearing on her face when Harry's mouth fell open as the full impact of what she and the Weasley's had done. She and Ron were leaning out of the back of Mr Weasley's car, which was parked mid-air.

Ron was looking at Harry from his spot next to her, squeezing together so they could both be looking out the window and in the front seats, Fred and George were grinning at her twin mischievously.

"All right, Harry?" asked George.

"What's been going on?" said Ron "Why haven't you been answering our letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of muggles…"

"It wasn't me…and how did he know?"

"He works for the ministry" said Briar "You know, we're not supposed to do spells outside school…"

Briar smirked, knowing full well she and the twins had been using magic, but they were smart enough to do it in a wizarding household where they couldn't tell who had performed the spells.

"You should talk" scoffed Harry, staring at the floating car.

"Oh, this doesn't count" said Briar dismissively.

"Yeah, we're only borrowing this. It's dad's, we didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with…" Ron explained.

"Is that why you have bars on your windows, because you did magic?" Briar asked, an angry look appearing on her face again when she looked at the bars with a curled upper lip.

"I told you, I didn't…but it'll take too long to explain now…look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can'[t magic myself out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so…"

"Stop gibbering" Ron rolled his blue eyes "We've come to take you home with us"

"But you can't magic either…" Harry said, his voice filled with confusion.

"We don't need to" said Ron, jerking his head towards her and the twin, who were all grinning "you forget who I've got with me"

"Tie that around the bars" said Fred, passing one end of the rope they bought with them to Briar, who in turn handed it to Harry.

"If the Dursleys wake up, I'm dead" said Harry, but he tied the rope tightly around one of the bars anyway.

Fred revved up the car.

"Don't worry" said Fred "and stand back"

Harry moved back to stand by where Briar could see the pearly white feathers of Hedwig. The car revved louder and louder and suddenly, with a crunching noise, the bars were pulled clean out of the window as Fred drove straight up into the air.

Panting under the weight, Briar and Ron grabbed the rope and hoisted the bars, which had been dangling a few feet of the ground, into the backseat with them. When the bars were safely in the back seat with her and Ron, Fred reversed as close as possible to Harry's window.

"Get in" Ron said.

"But all my Hogwarts stuff…my wand…my broomstick…"

"Where is it?" Briar asked, narrowing her eyes as she waited to find out what her Aunt and Uncle had done with her brother's things.

"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room…"

Briar growled in annoyance, her hatred for her only living blood relatives (bar Harry of course) was growing after each thing she heard of them. Now she found out they had locked him into his tiny room.

"No problem" said George from the front passenger seat "Out of the way, Harry"

Briar carefully climbed catlike (which was ironic since she was a doe) through the car window and grabbed Harry hand so that he could help her into the room. Fred and George followed closely behind her. Briar grabbed a muggle hairpin from her pocket and started to pick the lock, her ear pressed against the door as she waited for the tell-tale click of the lock opening.

Her uncle Moony had taught her this skill when he caught he stealing his wand in order to sneak out of her locked bedroom (she had been grounded from turning the bar of the Leaky cauldron yellow – long story) and he had taught her the muggle trick and she in turn had taught the Weasley twins over the summer.

"A lot of Wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick" said George "but we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow"

Briar stood up once there was a small click and the door swung open.

"So…we'll get your trunk…you grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to, Ron" whispered George.

"Watch out for the bottom stair…it creaks" Harry whispered after them.

She and the twins made their way towards the stairs, passing a door behind which they could hear the loudest snoring known to man. She share and amused look with the twins and the three of them snickered quietly as they quickly made their way down the stairs (jumping the bottom one to avoid it creaking).

Briar handed the muggle hair clip to Fred so that he could pick the lock of the cupboard under the stairs and looked into the door opposite it, the living room.

There was a flowery plush settee with a matching armchair all angled at the televishun that was in the corner of the room. The whole living room was pristine, so different from her home and The Burrow. Aunt petunia must spend a lot of time cleaning because even with Zingy their house was often messy.

She noticed pictures on the mantle of a fireplace and frowned when she noticed that, much like Dan Thomas' football poster, the pictures weren't moving. One of them showed he she assumed was Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley.

Briar and Harry looked nothing like the rest of the family. Uncle Vernon was large and neckless, with an enormous black moustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and bony; Dudley was blond, pink, and porky. She and Harry, on the other hand, were small and skinny, with Hazel and brilliant green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy.

Briar wrinkled her nose at the picture and decided to look back to the televishun looking at the strange buttons and knobs that were on it. She wondered what they would do.

"Look, they've got one of those televishuns" Briar whispered to George as they peered into the room.

"Wicked," George hissed back, looking at the black box with awe.

"Briar you're gonna want to look at this" Fred's voice came quietly and she whirled around to see that he was dragging a trunk that she recognised as Harry's out of the cupboard.

Briar furrowed her brows and went over looking in the cupboard, when she did, she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists again.

Inside the cupboard was a small bed and she could easily imagine the Dursleys shoving Harry into the small cupboard and locking it, expecting her twin to just got to sleep in the tiny space with the spiders.

"Right, that's it" Briar snapped quietly as George grabbed Harry's broom to place on top of the trunk and he and Fred grabbed either end of it.

"What are you going to do?" Fred asked, a mischievous grin slowly blooming on his face.

"Remember that Muggle prank Lee told us his sister Holly pulled on their cousin…?" Briar prompted with a wicked smirk.

Fred and George shared a glance as they too smirked at the prospect.

Briar quickly went to the kitchen and grabbed three bowls, beginning to fill them with warm water from the tap, willing the water to run quieter. She held a bowl of water in each hand and propped the third one between her arm and her side.

Fred and George grinned at her when she returned with the bowls of water and grabbed the trunk and broom to carry up with stairs and Briar followed them slowly trying not to pill any of the water. She didn't particularly care about making a mess but she wanted all the water for the prank.

When Fred and George returned to Harry's room, Briar quietly crept into Dudley's room after leaving two of the bowls in the hall, and quietly scoffed at the amount of strange things that were in his room compared to the tiny bedroom Harry had.

She crept forward but didn't have to muffle her steps that much as Dudley's snoring easily downed her out. When she reached the side of his bed, she placed the bowl of warm water on the floor and gently grabbed his pudgy hand and put it in the water.

Soon after she went to her aunt and Uncle's room and did the same to each of them with the other bowls of water, snickering as she did.

When she got back into Harry's room, Fred, Ron and Harry were inside the car, pulling on the trunk as George was in the room, pushing on it. Briar rushed forward to help George. She panted as inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window.

Briar heard Uncle Vernon cough.

The five of them froze, sharing a glance for a moment before she and George continued to push and the others began to pull again.

"A bit more" panted Fred from the inside of the car "one good push…"

Briar took a deep breath before she and George through their shoulders against the trunk as hard as they could. It finally slid into the back seat of the car, knocking Harry and Ron back and Fred shoved some of his red hair from his face as he sat back in the driver's seat.

"Okay, let's go" George whispered to her.

"Wait, Hedwig" Briar said.

She quickly grabbed the cage of her twin's snowy white owl and handed it to Ron through the back seat window, before climbing into the front, squeezing in next to Fred so that George could climb in the front next to her.

Fred put his foot down and the car suddenly shot towards the moon.

Briar shared a glance with the twins before the three of them began to laugh. They had managed to do it without getting caught and the thrill of it was fantastic. There was nothing like pulling a plan and narrowly missing getting caught in the act, except when the Professor's knew you had done it but couldn't prove it, especially when it was Snivillus.

When she turned to face Harry he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Let Hedwig out" he was saying to Ron "she can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages"

Briar grabbed the clip from George, handed it to Ron and, a moment later, Hedwig soared joyfully out of the window to glide alongside them like a ghost.

"So…what's the story, Harry?" said Briar impatiently.

"What's been happening?" Ron added.

Harry told them all about the house elf, named Dobby, the warning he's given him and the fiasco of the violet pudding.

There was a long, shocked silence when he had finished. Briar and George had turned to look at him with wide eyes as Ron's mouth fell open and Fred was eyeing him in the rear-view mirror.

House elves can only do what they were told to do. The fact that he hurt himself did in fact suggest that Dobby had gone against orders and tried to warn him, but if someone was plotting something they could have easily commanded Dobby to hurt himself to make his story of stealing Harry's letters to help him more believable.

"Very fishy" said Fred finally, Briar knew he hated silences as much as she did.

"Definitely dodgy" agreed George.

"So Dobby wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?" Briar asked.

"I don't think he could" said Harry "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip; he started banging his head against the wall"

Briar shared a sceptical glance with the twins, she was starting to suspect the house elf was lying on orders.

"What, you think he was lying to me?" said Harry, easily translating the look on Briar's face, he was her twin after all.

"Well" said Fred "put it this way…house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"

"Yes" said Briar, Harry and Ron together, instantly.

"Draco Malfoy" Harry explained.

"He hates Harry even more than he hates me" Briar added.

"Draco Malfoy?" said George, turning so he could look at her and Harry at the same time. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Must be, it's not a very common name, is it?" said Harry.

"Yeah it is" Briar nodded, knowing that Lucius was Malfoy's dad.

"I've heard dad talking about him" said George "he was a big supporter of you-know-who"

"And when you-know- who disappeared" said Fred, craning around to look at Harry "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he's never meant any of it. Load of dung…Dad reckons he was right in you-know-who's inner circle"

Briar nodded, she had heard the same rumours from many witches and wizards over the year and it didn't surprise her. The Malfoys were an old pureblood family that prided themselves on being pure of blood, unlike the Potters, they were similar to the Blacks in that respect.

"I don't know whether the Malfoys own a house elf…"said Harry.

"Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizarding family, and they'll be rich" said Fred.

"But you have one…" Harry said to Briar in confusion.

"Yeah but it's not Uncle Moony's. Zingy has been the Potter's house elf since grandma and Granddad Potter were alive. The Potters are an old pureblood family, older than the Malfoy's in fact, except they've been classed as blood traitors for an extremely long time"

"Blood traitors?" Harry asked.

"Meaning they recognise that purity of blood doesn't mean anything" Fred told him.

"Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing" said George and Briar supposed that if she had seven sons to look after she would want a house elf too "but all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden. House – elves come with big old manors and castles and places like that; you wouldn't catch one in our house…"

Briar thought of the picture her Uncle Moony had showed her of the marauders and her grandparents standing and grinning in front of Potter manor. It was a huge manor made with reddish bricks to symbolize the generations of Gryffindors and had been in the family forever. However, when death eaters attacked the Potter they had killed the whole family bar her dad, who was at Hogwarts, and burned the manor to the ground.

"I'm glad we came to get you, anyway" said Ron, breaking her from her thoughts "I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of our letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first…"

"Who's Errol?"

"Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery." Ron explained.

Briar nodded in agreement. When she had first gotten letters from the twins and Ron in the beginning of summer the old barn owl had to stay in Onyx's cage her for a couple of days before being well enough to go back., Onyx was very unimpressed with the whole ordeal.

"So then I tried to borrow Hermes…" Ron continued.

"Who?"

"The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made prefect" said Fred from next to her.

"But Percy wouldn't lend him to me" said Ron "said he needed him"

"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer" said George, frowning.

Briar nodded in agreement, she had noticed that too. She barely had to deal with his pompous and condescending remarks, except at meal time.

"And he's been sending a lot of letters and spending a lot of time in his room" Briar mused "I mean, there are only so many times you can polish a prefect badge isn't there?"

"You're driving to far west, Fred" George cut in, reaching across her to point at a compass on the dashboard.

"It didn't matter if you did borrow Hermes, because Onyx didn't bring any replied either, so clearly it wasn't Errol" Briar said with a roll of her hazel eyes and reached over Fred to twiddle to steering wheel slightly saying "we need to turn a little"

"So, does your dad know you've got the car?" said Harry, but judging by the look on his face he had already guessed the answer.

"Err, no," said Ron "he had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it"

"What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?" Harry asked.

"He works in the most boring department" said Ron "the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office"

"The what?" Harry frowned.

"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare…Dad was working overtime for weeks." Ron explained.

"What happened?"

"The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place and one man ended up in the hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic…it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office - and they had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up…"

"But your dad – this car…"

Briar and Fred laughed.

"Yeah" Fred said still chuckling "Dad's crazy about everything to do with muggles; our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it about, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives mum mad"

"That's the main road" said George, peering down through the windshield.

Briar looked out the window too. A faint pinkish glow was visible along the horizon to the east. Fred bought the car lower, and Briar saw a dark patchwork of fields and clumps of trees.

"We'll be there in ten minutes…just as well, it's getting light…" Briar told the others.

"We're a little way outside the village" said George "Ottery St. Catchpole"

"Isn't that where you live?" Harry asked Briar with furrowed brows.

She nodded "yeah, you can actually see my house from the top of the Burrow" she told him.

Lower and lower went the flying car. The edge of a brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees.

"Touchdown!" said Fred, George and Briar simultaneously as, with a slight bump, they hit the ground.

They had landed next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard, and Harry looked out for the first time at Weasley's house. 

"It's not much," said Ron said as Harry looked up at the mismatched house in awe.

"It's wonderful," said Briar happily and Harry agreed, clearly thinking of privet drive.

They got out of the car.

"Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," said Fred, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and no one need ever know we flew the car."

Ron had gone a nasty greenish colour, his eyes fixed on the house. The other four wheeled around and Briar pale instantly. Mrs Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a sabre-toothed tiger.

"Ah," said Fred.

"Oh, dear," said George.

Mrs Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her hands on her hips, staring from one guilty face to the next. She was wearing a flowered apron with a wand sticking out of the pocket.

"So," she said.

"Morning, Mum," said George, in what he clearly thought was a jaunty, winning voice.

"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" said Mrs Weasley in a deadly whisper.

"Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to…"

All three of Mrs Weasley's sons and Briar were taller than she was, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. Briar hated when her Uncle Moony shouted at her since it was so rare, but the rage of the red-haired woman was like something she's never seen since visiting the burrow.

"Beds empty! No note! Car gone - could have crashed - out of my mind with worry - did you care? - never, as long as I've lived - you wait until your father gets home…we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy …"

"Perfect Percy," muttered Fred.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" yelled Mrs Weasley, prodding a finger in Fred's chest. "You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job…"

It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned on Harry.

"I'm very pleased to see you, Harry, dear, and I'm sorry for my sons, although I suppose you had expected this of you sister" she said shooting a glare a Briar, who withered under it "Come in and have some breakfast."

She turned and walked back into the house and Harry, after a nervous glance at Briar, who nodded encouragingly, followed her. 

The old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was "_Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."_

Mrs Weasley was clattering around, cooking breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at Briar and her sons as she threw sausages into the frying pan. Every now and then she muttered things like "don't know what you were thinking of," and "never would have believed it."

"I don't blame you, dear," she assured Harry, tipping eight or nine sausages onto their plates. "Arthur and I have been worried about you Harry, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron and Briar by Friday. But really," (she was now adding three fried eggs to their plates) "flying an illegal car halfway across the country…anyone could have seen you…"

She flicked her wand casually at the dishes in the sink, which began to clean themselves, clinking gently in the background.

"It was cloudy, Mum!" said Briar, knowing it was better than to let her get in her stride, she had learnt that from experience.

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" Mrs Weasley snapped and Briar snapped her mouth shut looking down at her plate as she swallowed her food.

"They were starving him, Mum!" said Fred and George.

"And you two!" said Mrs Weasley, but it was with a slightly softened expression that she started cutting Harry bread and buttering it for him.

At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a small, redheaded figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again. Briar snickered into her sausages at Ginny's reaction to her brother.

"Ginny," said Briar in an undertone to Harry.

"My sister. She's been talking about you all summer." Ron added. 

Briar remembered her promise to Ginny about not tell Harry about her crush, but then again it wasn't her who told her, it was Ron.

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," George said with a grin, but he caught his mother's eye and bent his face over his plate without another word.

Nothing more was said until all five plates were clean, which took a surprisingly short time.

"Blimey, I'm tired," yawned Fred, setting down his knife and fork at last. "I think I'll go to bed and…"

"You will not," snapped Mrs Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again…"

"Oh, Mum…" Ron protested as Briar groaned, she hated de-gnoming the garden, she didn't get made to do it often but when she did it was awful.

"And you three," she said, glaring at Briar, Ron and George.

"You can go up to bed, dear," she added to Harry "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car…"

Harry, who felt wide awake, said quickly, "I'll help Ron and Bambi. I've never seen a de-gnoming…"

Briar's brows rose in surprise. She never thought she would see the day when someone was willingly offering to de-gnome a garden.

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," said Mrs Weasley. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject…"

And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece.

George groaned.

"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden…" George said.

Briar looked at the cover of Mrs Weasley's book. Written across it in fancy gold letters were the words: _Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests_. There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving; the wizard, who Briar knew was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all.

Briar had heard of him and seen his books in shops when she went into Diagon Alley with her Uncle Moony, but he never bought them, he was convinced he was a fraud and Briar believed almost everything her Uncle Moony told her.

Mrs Weasley beamed down at the book.

"Oh, he is marvellous," she said. "He knows his household pests, all right; it's a wonderful book..."

"Mum fancies him," said Fred, in a very audible whisper and Briar snickered.

"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs Weasley, her cheeks rather pink. "All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woes betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."

Yawning and grumbling, Briar and the Weasleys slouched outside with Harry behind them. The garden was large, not unlike her own at home and in her eyes, exactly what a garden should be. There were plenty of weeds, and the grass needed cutting - but there were gnarled trees all around the walls, plants spilling from every flower bed, and a big green pond full of frogs.

"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Briar and Ron they crossed the lawn.

"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush.

"Like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods..." Briar scoffed rolled her eyes.

There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered, and Ron straightened up.

"This is a gnome," he said grimly.

"Geroff me! Geroff me!" squealed the gnome.

It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like a potato. Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down.

"This is what you have to do," he said.

He raised the gnome above his head ("Geroff me!") and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso.

Seeing the shocked look on Harry's face, Briar added, "It doesn't hurt them -you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnome holes." 

Ron let go of the gnome's ankles: It flew twenty feet into the air and landed with a thud in the field over the hedge.

"Pitiful," said Fred. "I bet I can get mine beyond that stump."

"You're on, I bet I can bet mine father than yours" Briar challenged and quickly began to search through the bushes for another gnome.

Her twin learned quickly not to feel too sorry for the gnomes. He decided just to drop the first one he caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank its razor-sharp teeth into Harry's finger and he had a hard job shaking it off – until…

"Wow, Harry - that must've been fifty feet..." Ron said awed.

The air was soon thick with flying gnomes.

"See, they're not too bright," said George, seizing five or six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look."

"You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put." Briar added in amusement as she picked up another three gnomes and flung them as far as she could at the same time.

Soon, the crowd of gnomes in the field started walking away in a straggling line, their little shoulders hunched.

"They'll be back," said Ron as they watched the gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of the field. "They love it here... Dad's too soft with them; he thinks they're funny..."

Just then, the front door slammed.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

They hurried through the garden and back into the house.

Mr Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat down around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned..."

Mr Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness..."

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George looking at Briar in confusion but she just shrugged, she wasn't sure why they would anyway.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it... Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking - they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them; they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face... But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe…"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

Mrs Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. Briar froze and Mr Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guiltily at his wife.

"C-cars, Molly, dear?"

"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs Weasley, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly ."

Mr Weasley blinked.

"Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if…err…he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth... There's a loophole in the law, you'll find... As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't…"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Harry?" said Mr Weasley blankly. "Harry who?"

He looked around, saw Harry, and jumped.

"Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you, Briar and Ron's told us so much about…"

"Your sons and Briar flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" said Mr Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I…I mean," he faltered as sparks flew from Mrs Weasley's eyes, "that…that was very wrong, boys, Briar…very wrong indeed..."

Briar looked at Mrs Weasley' angry face and shoved Fred and George towards the stairs wanting to get out of the explosion zone.

Fred and George didn't need any more encouragement and the three of them began to run up to their bedroom on the fourth floor, the one above Ginny's room. They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its way, zigzagging up through the house.

There were three beds in their room, a third one having been conjured by Mr Weasley when she finally convince Mrs Weasley to let her stay with them. The wooden floor was stained by different colours and scorch marks particularly around the huge desk that was piled with a cauldron, parchment with pranks ideas scribbled on and a bunch of different ingredients.

"Turn around" Briar told the twins as she grabbed her pyjama's from her trunk at the bottom of the middle bed.

"Aww…I always hope you'll forget to tell us that" Fred grumbled while George nodded in agreement.

Briar scowled and tried to hit them, but they dodged her with a smirk on their faces and turned their backs to her so she could get changed.

Briar quickly pulled on her oversized Holyhead Harpies T-shirt and a pair of shorts before letting the twins turn back around. She closed her eyes as they got changed and as soon as her head hit her pillow, she was asleep.


	16. Flourish and Blotts

Chapter Fifteen

_Flourish and Blotts_

Briar loved staying with the Weasley, but she did send her Uncle Moony a letter every other day as well as letters to Lee and Hermione. She and the twins had been trying to create sweets that make you sick but they hadn't been successful so far, she was getting quite annoyed with the ghoul in the attic though now and again it would rattle the pipes in the middle of the night, waking her up.

Just as Ginny was becoming like a little sister, Mrs Weasley was becoming a mother figure to Briar, the first one she has had since she was two years old. She fussed over the state of her robes, gave her fourth helping at every meal. What Briar liked most about her however, was how much she fussed over Harry, trying to make sure that he is properly looked after for the first time he could remember, seeing as he remembers nothing of their first two years, Briar wonders if it's because of the deadly curse Voldemort used on him.

Briar loved having Harry with her again, she had been missing having him around since they left Hogwarts for the summer. She liked having someone around who could read her so easily and could finish her sentences. Being around Fred and George only reminded her how much she missed him, but now he was here.

The Potters and Weasley heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after Harry had arrived at the Burrow.

Briar and the twins had ambled into the kitchen, yawning and clad in pyjamas. Mrs Weasley was busying herself putting the breakfast on the table, Ginny was wiping porridge off of her sleeves with a red face and Mr Weasley was handing Harry and Ron Hogwarts letters.

"Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry – doesn't miss a trick" He was saying, Mr Weasley turned to her and the twins as they sat down, immediately piling their plates with food "You three've got them too" he added, handing them letters.

For a few minutes there was silence as they read their letter, Briar absentmindedly eating her breakfast as she read. Her letter told her to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September 1st. there was also a list of the new books she'd need for the coming year.

_SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:___

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk___

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_43 Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart___

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart__  
_

Briar frowned as she eyed the list, wondering if it had been written wrong, but peeking over at Ron's she saw that it hadn't. Why would they need all the Gilderoy Lockhart books? Her Uncle Moony definitely wasn't going to be pleased.

Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at Briar's.

"You've been told to get all the Lockhart's books too!" he said "the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan…I bet it's a witch"

Briar turned to Fred with raised brows, slightly offended at the very accusation that every witch has to be a Lockhart fan. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Ginny and Mrs Weasley looking at him to.

"Excuse you?!" Briar snapped.

Fred gave her a startled look before glancing at his mother and sister and quickly busied himself with the marmalade. Briar glared at him for a few more seconds before she decided that Fred just said hurtful things without realising and that if she called him on it she would be a hypocrite as a lot of the time she did the same thing.

"That lot won't come cheap" said George, with a quick look at his parents "Lockhart's books are really expensive…"

"Well, we'll manage" said Mrs Weasley, but she looked worried "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second-hand."

Briar bit her lip. It wasn't often she felt bad for people but the Weasleys were the greatest and kindest family she knew, but they had the misfortune of not having a lot of money. She wanted to offer them some from the Potter's account, but knew they wouldn't want to be pitied.

"She can have my copy of the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1 and I've grown taller over the summer so Ginny can have my old robes if she wants, it's not like she's not going to Gryffindor" Briar told Mrs Weasley in her best nonchalant voice.

"Are you sure? Thank you, dear" Mrs Weasley said gratefully and Ginny shot her a smile.

"Are you starting Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.

Ginny nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Briar snickered at the girl's misfortune before turning with everyone else when Percy walked in. he was already dressed and Briar rolled her eyes when she saw hat his Hogwarts prefect badge was pinned to his sweater vest. What need could he have to wear the badge during the summer?

"Morning, all," said Percy briskly "Lovely day"

He sat down in the only remaining chair, but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him the malting, grey feather duster that was the Weasley's owl.

"Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally…he's got Hermione's answer. Briar and I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys" he told Harry.

"I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me send Onyx" Briar commented as she finished off her toast.

Ron carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron lay him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then Briar grabbed the letter off of him and read it out loud:

"'Dear Ron, Briar and Harry if you're there, I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, you two, because that would get Harry into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used Onyx, Briar, because I think another delivery might finish Ron's one off. I'm very busy with schoolwork of course-"

"-How can she be?" cut in Ron in horror "We on holiday!"

"-And we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love from Hermione"

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then too" said Mrs Weasley, starting to clear the table "What're you all up to today?"

Briar, Harry, Ron, Fred and George were planning to go up to the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high.

Sadly they could use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead they threw apples for one another to catch. Briar didn mind, she loved flying no matter what they were doing especially since she got her knew broom off of Uncle Moony, she also thought it was great practice since she was going to be trying out for chaser this year. They all took turns riding Briar and Harry's Nimbus Two Thousands, which were easily the best brooms: Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies.

Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. Briar had handed her broom to Harry and hopped up on Fred's back, too lazy to walk up the hill herself.

They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. Briar wondered what he was so busy with, she and the twins tried to spy on him but whenever they glanced in his room they just saw him pouring over parchment, which gave them no clue what he was doing.

"Wish I knew what he was up to" said Fred, frowning.

"Yeah, he's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelve OWLs and he hardly gloated at all" Briar added to Harry.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels" George explained, seeing Harry's puzzled look "Bill got twelve too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame.

Bill was the oldest Weasley brother and from the admiring voices the twins used when talking of him she could tell they looked up to him a great deal. Bill and the next oldest brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. Briar had never met either of them, but knew that Charlie was in Romania studying dragons and Bill was in Egypt working for the wizard's bank, Gringotts.

"Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year" said George after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs a wand and everything…"

"Yeah, thanks for giving her your old robes and book by the way Bambi" Fred told her gratefully.

Briar ruffled his hair in response and in retaliation he pretended to drop her, making her screech in a way she didn't think she could and actually made her blush when the others laughed at her reaction. Briar however didn't mind the small embarrassment she didn't want to answer Fred when she felt awkward about the fact that she and Harry were the heirs to the Potter fortune. Judging by the relieved look on Harry's face he had felt the same.

Mrs Weasley woke them all early the following Wednesday. They had quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each. The food had calmed Briar down to the fact that she had been awoken so early, the only reason she could see for being awake this early was to play Quidditch.

Briar pulled on the burgundy robes Hermione had gotten her for her birthday and Mrs Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside.

"We're running low, Arthur" she sighed "we'll have to buy some more today…ag well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!" and she offered him the flower pot.

Briar waited for him to grab some floo powder and raised her brows when he just stared at them.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" he stammered.

"Right" Briar said in realisation "he hasn't travelled by floo powder before" she told Mr

and Mrs Weasley.

"Sorry, mate, I forgot" Ron apologized.

"Never?" said Mr Weasley "but how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"we went on the Underground…"Harry explained.

Briar frowned at the unknown Muggle term, however Mr Weasley clearly recognized it as he said eagerly, "Really? Were there escapators? How exactly…"

"Not now, Arthur" said Mrs Weasley "Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before…"

Briar rolled her eyes, the way Mrs Weasley was talking about it, it was as though he was about to try Muggle knife throwing for the first time.

"He'll be all right, Mum" said Fred "Harry, watch us first"

Fred took a pinch of the glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.

With a roar, the fire turned the same emerald shade as her twin's eyes and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted "Diagon Alley!" and Vanished.

"You must speak clearly, dear" Mrs Weasley told Harry as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot "and be sure to get out at the right grate…"

"The right what?" Harry asked nervously as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight too.

"Well, there are an awful lot of Wizard fired to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly…"

"He'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss" said Mr Weasley, helping himself to floor powder too.

"But, dear" Mrs Weasley started to protest "if he got lost, how would we ever explain to his aunt and uncle?"

"They wouldn't mind" Harry reassured, Briar narrowed her eyes angrily at that "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, so don't worry about that…"

"Well…all right…Harry you got after Arthur" said Mrs Weasley "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going"

"And keep your elbows tucked in" Briar advised.

"And your eyes shut" said Mrs Weasley "the soot…"

"Don't fidget" piled on Ron "Or you might very well fall out of the wrong fireplace…"

"But don't panic and get out to early" Mrs Weasley added "wait until you see Fred and George"

Judging by the pale, nervous look on Harry's face as he took a pinch of floor powder, their advice hadn't made him feel anymore assured about travelling via floo. She watched as Harry took a deep breath, scatted the powder into the fire and stepped forward into the green flames.

"Diagonally" Harry shouted and then he was gone.

"Did he just say…?" Briar frowned, her brows furrowed.

"Diagonally" Mr Weasley confirmed with a sigh.

"There's no telling where he'll end up" Ron commented, eyeing the spot Harry vanished from worriedly.

"Oh, Arthur, I knew something like this was going to happen, what are we going to do?" Mrs Weasley cried, panic stricken.

"I'm going after him" Briar told them as she grabbed a pinch of floo powder for herself.

"Oh but dear, we don't want you going missing too" Mrs Weasley protested.

Briar didn't listen. She threw the floor powder into the fire and waited for it to turn that familiar green colour before stepping inside the flames. The fire felt like a warm breeze and made her fingertips tingle.

"Diagonally" she cried, repeating what he twin had said in order to follow him.

It felt as though she was being sucked down a giant drain. She was spinning and the roaring in her eyes was deafening. Almost instantly Briar shut her eyes not wanting to feel nauseas from the blurred stream of fireplaces.

Floo was Briar's least favourite way to travel, she even like ide along apparition to this, at least it didn't make her sick anymore like floo did.

Her eyes snapped open when the spinning finally stopped and she stumbled from the fireplace. Feel dizzy she looked around gingerly, but couldn't tell where she was. All she could tell was that she was standing in front of the stone fireplace, which she had just exited, of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizards shop.

Briar was at least relieved that she hadn't come out in a muggle area, that would take a lot of explaining.

A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, a blood stained back of cards, and a staring glass eye. Evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and a rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling.

What was worse was the human figure that was blocking the dusty shop window. She took a hesitant step forward and the figure world around. Briar sighed in relief when she realised that it was just Harry, holding his glasses, which appeared to have been snapped in two, in front of his emerald green eyes and covered in black soot.

"Bambi" Harry sighed in relief before he looked around the shop "What did we do wrong?"

"You did it wrong, I didn't" Briar said, rolling her hazel eyes "I decided I better follow you in case you end up in the wrong place, and by the looks of things, I was right"

Briar began to walk towards the door, not liking the way she could feel eyes on her even though there appeared to be no one other than her and Harry in the store. The sooner they got out of there, the better.

She made her was swiftly and silently out of the door, not having to look behind her to know that Harry was following her. However, they only got halfway towards it when two people appeared on the other side of the glass…and one of them was the least person she wanted to see ever: Draco Malfoy.

Briar resisted the urge to yelp in surprise as Harry grabbed her wrist pulling her around. She noticed that he was dragging her towards a large black cabinet to their left. They shot inside of it and pull the doors closed so that they were squished together and leaving a small crack to peer through.

Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped in the shop.

The man who followed Briar recognized as Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy. She had seen him before when she and Uncle Moony were at the Ministry and she could honestly say she had never had the displeasure to meet someone so bigoted. Lucius had the same pale, pointed face as his son and identical cold, grey eyes.

Mr Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily at the items on display, and rang a bell on the counter before turning to his son and saying "touch nothing, Draco"

Briar bit her lip and looked about the shop with new eyes. She was starting to suspect where they were and it was somewhere she had always wanted to go but her Uncle Moony had never let her. They were in Knockturn Alley.

Fred and George were going to be so jealous, she thought with a grin, ignoring Harry's bewildered look. The twins had heard from a seventh year that you could by an illegal potions ingredient that if you brewed in boiling water for an hour it would keep the person who ate it in their worst nightmare for five minutes. It would make a brilliant prank on the Slytherins.

She wondered absently what Malfoy worst nightmare would be. Probably getting touched by a muggleborn or something equally stupid.

"I thought you were going to buy me a present" Malfoy, who had reached for the glass eye, said.

"I said I would buy you a racing broom" said his father, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team?" said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered "Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year, Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's famous…famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead…his Sister Briar Potter's just as bad, strutting around the castle like she owns it, she's probably going to get on the team this year…i swear they only let people on who they feel sorry for…"

Malfoy bent down to examine a shelf full of skulls, Briar didn't really want to think where they had come from.

"You have told me all this at least a dozen times already" said Mr Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son "and I would remind you that it is not…prudent…to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear"

Briar narrowed her hazel eyes suspiciously at the title 'The Dark Lord'. She knew the Malfoys were lying about being on Voldemort's side, only death eaters and supported of the 'cause' called him that.

"Ah, Mr Borgin" Mr Malfoy said as a stooping man appeared behind the counter smoothing his greasy hair back from his face.

"Ugh…he looks almost as bad as Snivillus" Briar whispered, wrinkling her nose, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Mr Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again" said Mr Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair "Delighted…and young Mr Malfoy too…charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today? And very reasonably priced…"

"I'm not buying today, Mr Borgin, but selling" said Mr Malfoy and Briar frowned wondering why he would want to do such a thing, it's not like the Malfoys didn't have enough money.

"Selling?" Mr Borgin repeated, the smile fading slightly from his ugly face.

"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducted more raids" said Mr Malfoys, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unravelling it for Mr Borgin to read "I have a few…ah…items at home that might embarrass me, if the ministry were to call…"

Briar narrowed her eyes in an attempt to see what was on the parchment, but sighed quietly in annoyance when she realised she was too far away to do so. She longed to know what items were on the list, she knew that Mr Weasley had wanted the Malfoys to be caught in the raids, and that list could do just that.

Mr Borgin fixed a pair of pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list.

"The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?"

Mr Malfoy's lip curled.

"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumours about a new Muggle Protection Act…no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it…"

Briar felt a hot surge of anger and she glared furiously at Mr Malfoy, beginning to mutter all the hexes she knew and heard of under her breath.

"…and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear…"

"I understand, sir, of course," said Mr Borgin "Let me see…"

"Can I have that?" interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion.

"Ah, the Hand of Glory!" said Mr Borgin, abandoning Mr Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Malfoy "inset a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! You son has fine taste, sir"

Briar silently scoffed at the thought of Malfoy having good taste.

A second later she frowned in thought, that hand gave her an idea. If she and the twins could get their hands on a muggle torch they could probably find a spell somewhere that allowed only them to see it's light. That would be extremely useful to the on pranks.

"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin" said Mr Malfoy coldly.

Mr Borgin's eyes went wide and he said quickly, "No offense, sir, no offense meant…"

"Though if his grades don't pick up" said Mr Malfoy, more coldly still "that may indeed be all he is fit for…"

"It's not my fault" retorted Malfoy "the teachers all have favourites, that Briar Potter and Hermione Granger…"

Briar rolled her eyes at the mention of her and Hermione. The second Malfoy realised that she was just better than him in every conceivable way, he would probably be a lot more relaxed and content with himself.

"I would have thought you'd have been ashamed that a Potter and a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam" snapped Mr Malfoy.

"Ha!" said Harry under his breath and Briar snickered, both pleased to see Malfoy looking both abashed and angry.

"It's the same all over," said Mr Borgin in his oily voice "Wizard blood is counting for less and less everywhere…"

"Not with me," said Mr Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring.

"No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Mr Borgin with a deep bow.

"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list" said Mr Malfoy shortly "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business everywhere today…"

The two wizards started to haggle.

Briar shared a nervous look with Harry as Malfoy drew nearer and nearer to their hiding place, examining the objects for sale. Malfoy paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals:

_Caution: _

_Do not touch._

_Cursed – has claimed the lives of nineteen muggle owners to date._

Malfoy turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward…Briar shared a panicked look with Briar and they both held their breath…he stretched out his hand for the handle.

"Done" said Mr Malfoy at the counter "come, Draco…"

Opposite her Harry wiped his forehead on his sleeve, sighing, and Briar gave a breathy laugh, half part relief and half part exhilaration with the familiar reckless joy off having almost been caught.

"Good day to you, Mr Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods"

The moment the door closed, Mr Borgin dropped his oily manner.

"Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your manor…"

Briar smirked, and filed that information in with the other rumours of the Malfoy family, hoping it will be useful later.

Muttering darkly, Mr Borgin disappeared into a back room. Briar and Harry waited for a minute in case he came back, then, quietly as they could, slipped out of the cabinet, past the glass cases, and out of the shop door.

Briar looked around eagerly as they emerged, trying to see everything at once since she wasn't sure if she would ever manage to get back into Knockturn Alley.

It looked like a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the dark arts. Briar frowned at the thought, she liked illegal things that could be used for pranks, but she absolutely loathed everything to do with the Dark Arts.

The shop she and Harry had just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads, they looked down right gruesome compared to the one that was hanging in the Night Bus. Two doors down, a large cage was alive with gigantic black spiders, Briar couldn't tell if they were just spelled to be large or if they were baby acrumantulas.

Knockturn Alley seemed like a place to be quiet, where secrets were kept, where you came if you didn't want to be seen.

Two shabby-looking wizards were watching the Potter twins from the shadow of a doorway, muttering to each other.

Briar kept her hand in her robe pocket, clutching her wands tensely, she may have wanted to come down her, but she didn't like the idea of being hexed behind her back. She began to walk down the alley and Harry jumped to follow her, looking rather shaken as he looked around nervously, still trying to hold his glasses on his face straight.

"Bambi, where are we?" Harry whispered.

"It's Knockturn Alley" Briar whispered back, excitement brimming in her voice "my Uncle Moony never let me come down here. It's the second magical street next to Diagon Alley, only this is for dark magical things, most of the stuff here is going to be sold illegally, I mean you saw those stuff in that shop back there."

"Not lost are you, my dears?" said a voice making Briar jump and as she and Harry whirled around, she tightened her grip on her wand.

"We're fine" Briar snapped, putting on her most fierce glare as she sneered at the woman, wanting to make her go away, it seemed to work as the woman wandered off, muttering darkly.

"What was that?" Harry asked in a bewildered voice at the dark look on his twin's face.

"It's not save down here unless you're a pureblood. With the name Potter we'll be targeted, the Potter's have been blood traitors for about ten generations. It's worse for you than anyone else sine you're 'the boy who lived'" Briar explained, using her fingers to make sarcastic air quotes around Harry's title.

Harry nodded slowly, and seemed to look around the alley with even more hesitance than before.

"HARRY, BRIAR! What d'yeh think yer doin' down here?"

Briar leapt in shock, sending Harry a grateful look when he steadied her to stop her from falling. The massive form of Hagrid, the Hogwarts' gamekeeper came striding toward them, beetle-black eyes flashing over his great bristling beard.

"Hagrid!" Harry croaked in obvious relief "I was lost…Floo powder…Briar followed…"

Briar yelped as Hagrid seized her and Harry by the scruffs of their necks and pulled them away from the spot where the creepy witch had once stood.

Hagrid pulled Briar and Harry all the way along the twisting alleyway and out into bright sunlight. Briar saw the familiar, snow-white marble building in the distance…Gringotts bank. The half-giant had led them right into Diagon Alley.

"Yer a mess, Harry!" said Hagrid gruffly; brushing soot off Harry so forcefully he nearly knocked him into a barrel of dragon dung outside an apothecary, so it was now Briar's turn to steady him. "Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno dodgy place, you two…don' want no one ter see yeh down there…"

"I realize that" said Harry, ducking as Hagrid made to brush him off again "I told you, we were lost…"

"What were you doing down there, anyway?" Briar asked, looking up at him curiously.

"I was lookin' fer Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent" growled Hagrid "They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own?"

"We're staying with the Weasleys-" Harry started.

"-But we got separated" Briar finished for him. "We should go and find them…"

The three of them set of together down the street.

"How come yeh never wrote back ter me?" said Hagrid as he and Briar jogged alongside him (they had to take three steps to every stride of Hagrid's enormous boots)

Harry explained all about Dobby and the Dursleys and Briar growled angrily at the mention of their treatment of him. She would never stop being angry about that.

"Lousy Muggles" growled Hagrid and Briar nodded hurriedly in agreement, gritting her teeth "If I'd have known…"

"Harry! Briar! Over here!"

Briar looked up and saw Hermione standing at the top of the white flight steps to Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her. Hermione gave Briar a tight hug, both girls smiling broadly.

"I've missed you! Oh and you're wearing the robes, they do look wonderful on you, they bring out your pale colouring perfectly…" Hermione said extremely quickly as she pulled from the hug.

"I've miss you too, 'Mione" Briar laughed, ruffling her hair.

Hermione grinned and turned to Harry, "What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid – Oh, it's wonderful to see you three again…are you coming into Gringotts?"

"As soon as we've found the Weasleys" Said Harry.

"Yeh won't have long ter wait" Hagrid said with a grin.

Briar looked around at the same time as Harry and Hermione: springing up the street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr Weasley.

"Harry, Briar," Mr Weasley panted "we hoped you'd only gone wait to far…" he mopped his glistening bald patch "Molly's frantic…she's coming now…"

"Briar, my love…wonderful to see you again…such a long time it has been" George sighed, putting on a posh voice, and grabbing her shoulders in order to kiss each of her cheeks.

"Positively wonderful…how we've miss you" Fred said in the same voice as his twin, air kissing Briar's cheeks as well.

Briar stared at her two best friends with the straightest face she could manage and the twins stared right back it her, none of them wanting to be the first to crack. Briar's nose wrinkled and she bit the inside of her cheek as she felt laughter bubble up inside of her. However, it didn't last long as they all seemed to break in sync, the three of them bursting into laughter.

"Where did you two come out?" Ron asked, ignoring hers and the twin's antics, he had grown used to them over the summer.

"Knockturn Alley" said Harry and Briar, the latter smirking smugly at the twins.

"Excellent!" said Fred and George together.

"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.

"I should ruddy well think not" growled Hagrid.

Mrs Weasley now came galloping into view, her face flushed and her handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny just clinging onto the other.

"Oh, Harry, Briar…oh, my dear…you could have been anywhere. Briar you should not have followed…"

Gasping for breath, Mrs Weasley pulled a large clothes brush out of her back and began sweeping the soot off Harry that Hagrid hadn't managed to beat away. Mr Weasley took Harry's glasses, gave them a tap of his wand, and returned them, good as new, actually considering the Durselys they were probably better than new.

"Well, gotta be off" said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found them, Hagrid!") "see yer at Hogwarts!" and he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.

"Guess who we saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps.

"Malfoy and his father" Briar finished for her brother.

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr Weasley sharply behind them.

"No, he was shelling…" said Briar "I guess he's on to you"

"So he's worried" said Mr Weasley with grim satisfaction "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…"

"You be careful, Arthur" said Mrs Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door "that family's trouble, don't go biting off more than you can chew…"

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr Weasley, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that Ran all along the great hall.

"It's wonderful to see you again!" said Mr Weasley delightedly, clearly very pleased to be able to have another conversation with the muggles "we must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing muggle money. Molly, look!" he pointed excitedly at the weird coloured notes in Peter Granger's hand.

"Meet you back here" Ron said to Hermione as the Weasleys, Briar and Harry were led off to their underground vaults by another Gringotts goblin.

The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin-driven carts that sped along miniature train tracks through the bank's underground tunnels. Briar enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasley's vault, whooping and waving her arms wildly with the twins until Mrs Weasley snapped at them to stop.

However, her good mood vanished when the vault was opened. She felt a sad look with Harry and they both bit their lips. There was a very small smile pile of silver sickles inside, and just on gold galleon. Mrs Weasley felt right into the corners before sweeping the whole lot into her bag.

Briar and Harry felt even worse when they reached the Potter's vault. She and Harry tried to block the content from view as they hastily shoved handfuls of coins into their leather bags.

Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill, which Briar found very off considering that when she and the twins snuck in his room to turn it blue a few days ago he had about fifty quills on his prim desk. Harry, Ron and Hermione wanted to get ice creams. Mrs Weasley and Ginny were going to a second-hand cauldron shop. Mr Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky cauldron for a drink.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books" said Mrs Weasley as she set off with Ginny.

Briar nodded absently as she and the twins spotted Lee waving to them from further down the street.

"And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" Briar heard Mrs Weasley shout at hers and the twin's backs.

Briar put on a faux frown.

"Did you catch that?" she asked Fred and George in an 'innocent' voice.

"I think she said to go to Knockturn Alley" Fred said musingly.

"Well, if she says so" George said with shrug and the three of them shared mischievous grins as they reached Lee.

"Hey Briar" Lee smiled and she stood on her tip-toes to give him a peck on the lips in greeting.

Lee reach out and held her hand. Briar looked down at their entwined fingers, her hand looked painfully wait against his dark skin. She smiled softly and looked up at him face to find that he was smiling down at her too.

"Oh, we see how it is" Fred said, breaking the moment and Briar looked over at the twins with raised brows.

"We're not pretty and smart so we don't get a greeting, is that is?" George piled on.

Briar shared a glance with Lee before they both grinned and turned to the twins with a shrug saying "Pretty much" in synch with one another.

Fred and George scoffed in faux offence.

"Oh, Lee, Harry and I were down Knockturn Alley not long ago" Briar told her boyfriend as the four of them began to walk down the cobbled street.

"Really?" Lee asked eagerly "Wicked! Did you see much down there?"

"No, sadly Hagrid dragged us out of there before I could even think of persuading Harry to help me snoop." Sighed Briar "We just saw the creepy shops and there was a cage of either really big spiders or small acrumantulas"

"You know what, Gred?" George said, turning to his twin.

"What, Forge?" Fred asked with a mischievous grin seeming to already know what his twin was going to say.

"I think Ron's going to get a new pet from Knockturn Alley soon" George told him.

"You know what? I think that too" Fred agreed with a matter of fact nod.

Briar chuckled leaning into Lee's side so that he could rap his arm around her as they walked.

The first place Briar and the boys went was Quality Quidditch Supplies. Briar wandered around the shop as Lee, Fred and George stood and stared at the shiny new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. Briar looked longingly at a set of Holyhead Harpies robes before eyeing the golden snitches and red Quaffles. Briar bought herself a pair of dragon hide Quidditch gloves ready for when she tried out for the Gryffindor team before dragging the boys out of the shop to carry on strolling along the winding, cobbled streets.

In Gamble and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop (Not as good as Zonkos but the best one in Diagon Alley) the four of them ran into Ron, Hermione and Harry, as they stocked up on Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-start, No-Heat Fireworks. Briar was planning on stuffing them all in Filch's office at one point in the year.

In a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old cloaks covered in potion stains, they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called Prefects Who Gained Power. Briar frowned when she spotted him as according to Harry he had been in that exact position when they had been in there.

"Wow, Perce, That book looks fascinating" Fred said in a faux interested voice as he peered over his older brother's shoulder.

"Shove off!" Percy snapped, shielding the book from the twins as though them even looking at it was tainting its contents.

"No, no, we're serious" George cut in.

"Yeah, we want to know about the later careers of Hogwarts prefects, don't we Lee?" Briar piled on in an earnest voice, looking up at her boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah" Lee said sarcastically.

Percy huffed and shoved the book back in its place and storming from the shop. His red head had barely even vanished from their view when the four of them began to laugh.

After Lee had bought a cool looking telescope from the junk shop, the four of them still had some time to kill. They first went to Florian Fortescue's ice-cream place, Lee bought Briar a chocolate ice-cream topped with nuts and then the four of them began to just wander about the different shops just messing about, Briar was sure there wasn't one moment when they weren't laughing.

They ended up getting kicked out of four different stores for playing around with the merchandise and Briar, Fred and George had all agreed not to tell Mrs Weasley.

An hour later, Briar kissed Lee goodbye and she, Fred and George headed for Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. the reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:

_GILDEROY LOCKHART _

_Will be signing copies of his autobiography,_

_MAGICAL ME_

_Today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M._

The twins looked down from the banner and groaned in sink.

"You up for coming back at 4:31?" Briar asked dryly.

She shared an annoyed look with the twins before they squeezed inside the shop. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. Briar grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2, the twins didn't need to get the copy for Grade 4 as they were using Charlie and Bill's old copies.

They then sneaked up the line to where Ginny, Percy, Mr and Mrs Weasley and the Grangers were standing. Briar stayed squished in between Fred and George letting their tallness protect her from getting shoved too much.

"Good, there you, I was starting to think you were going to be late" Mr Weasley said as they stopped beside them.

"Have you seen the others, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked, trying to peer over the crowds ti catch a sight of them.

Briar pulled Ginny into her front as a harassed-looking man nearly knocked into the small girl on his rush in getting over to the crowd the door (it was mostly made up of witches around Mrs Weasley's age) saying, "Calmly, please, ladies…don't push, there…mind the books, now…"

"We saw them in Gamble and Japes about twenty minutes ago" Briar told them.

Mrs Weasley's head snapped in the direction of the twins.

"The joke shop? What did you buy? I told you specifically before we left not to buy an pranking products" Mrs Weasley ranted, grabbing the bag of goodies from Fred hand and frowning angrily at them when she looked inside.

"Oh mum!" Fred and George moaned as she shoved the bag into her purse (Briar decided that it must have an extendable charm on it).

"Don't 'Oh, mum' me, I warn the pair of you about this every time we come" snapped Mrs Weasley.

Fred and George made a big show about protesting, but winked in Briar's direction when their mother wasn't looking. Briar shared a glance with Ginny as the two girls resisted the urge to grin. Fred and George had given most of their supplies to Lee before they separated and Ginny clearly knew her elder brothers well enough to know that they had a back-up plan.

Briar turned and saw a familiar messy black head of hair making its way through the crowd and a second later Harry, Hermione and Ron came into view.

"Oh, there you are, good" said Mrs Weasley, she glanced at the front of the shop where Lockhart was going to be any moment and patted her hair "We'll be able to see him in a minute…"

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzling white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched him eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

"He's full of himself, isn't he?" Briar muttered to the twins, looking at the sheer number of pictures of Lockhart.

Fred and George looked down from either side of her with raised brows.

"I'm sorry, did we just here Bambi talk about someone being big headed?" Fred asked in a thoroughly shocked voice.

"I think we did" George whispered, making his blue eyes ridiculously wide.

"Okay, there's arrogance and then there's that" Briar huffed, ruffling her hair and pointing at Lockhart.

"Okay, we'll give you that" Fred said looking at the wizard with distaste.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple some with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there" he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot "this is for the Daily Prophet…"

"Big deal" said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.

Gilderoy Lockhart had clearly heard him as he looked up. He saw Ron…and they he saw Harry.

Lockhart stared for a moment before he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "it can't be Harry Potter?"

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. Briar raised her eyes and looked about the crowd as it burst into applause. Harry's face was bright red from his spot beside Lockhart.

"Well, doesn't your brother look like a _deer_ in the headlights" Fred muttered to her with a grin.

Briar glared at him and shoved him roughly and couldn't help but think it was perfect revenge when the witch she had knocked him into began to beat him with her big blue handbag.

Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys, Grangers and Briar, who gave and over exaggerate cough as she glared at the small photographer.

She saw Lockhart mutter something to Harry through his gleaming teeth, Briar couldn't hear was said, but judging from the unimpressed look on her twin's face she didn't want to. Lockhart seemed to have loosened his grip on Harry as he began to try and slide back over to them, but not a second later, Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side.

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge…" the arrogant wizard said.

The crowd began to applaud and Briar, Fred and George tried to make their claps the loudest and grinned when Harry glared at them angrily.

"…He had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. he and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd because to cheer and clap as Harry was presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Briar shared a horrified look with Fred and George. From Quirrell to Lockhart, it seemed like they were never going to learn anything in that lesson.

Harry made his way out of the limelight and back to where she and Ginny were standing at the side of the room.

"You have these" Harry mumbled to Ginny, tipping the books into her second hand cauldron "I'll buy my own.

Harry didn't notice the awed look on Ginny's face at getting given something from her crush as he was too busy trying to hide his burning face.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a voice Briar had no trouble recognizing.

Briar and Harry shared a glance and straightened, turned, and found themselves face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, who was wearing his usual sneer.

"Famous Harry Potter" said Malfoy "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page"

Briar glared, her hazel eyes flashing, and was about to make a scathing remark, but much to her surprise Ginny beat her to it.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny and Briar's brows rose in shock, it was the first time she had spoken in front of her twin and Ginny was glaring at Malfoy.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" drawled Malfoy.

Ginny went scarlet as Ron, Hermione and the twins fought their way over, all clutching stacks of Lockhart's books. Briar stumbled slightly as Fred and George handed her the copies they had gotten for her.

"Oh and what a surprise, Malfoy, you're all alone" Briar said, mimicking Malfoy's drawling voice and she smirked when he sneered and glared at her.

"Oh, it's you" said Ron when he realised who she was talking to, he was looking at Malfoy as though he was something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?" Ron added.

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those"

Fred, George and Ron turned as red as Ginny. Briar helped Fred hold George back as he tried to surge forward and hit the Slytherin. While Fred was definitely the most reckless of the twins, she knew that George had inherited their mother's furious temper.

Ron dropped his books into Ginny's cauldron just as Harry had and je too began to make his way toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Ron!" said Mr Weasley, struggling over "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside"

"Well, well, well…Arthur Weasley"

It was Mr Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.

"Isn't this just the worst reunion ever" George growled lowly to her and Fred, the glare still marring his face.

"Lucius" said Mr Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr Malfoy and Briar's eyes narrowed at the underlying taunt "All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime?"

Mr Malfoy reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

"Obviously not," Mr Malfoy said "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr Weasley flushed darker than Ron, the twins or Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy" he said.

"Clearly," said Mr Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Jean and Peter Granger, who were watching apprehensively "The company you keep, Weasley…and I thought your family could sink no lower"

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr Weasley had thrown himself at Mr Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spell books came thundering down on all their heads.

"Get him Dad/Mr Weasley!" Briar and George shouted as Fred whistled, both with cruel smirks on their faces as they hoped Mr Malfoy got his teeth knocked in.

Briar cheered and clapped, ignoring Mrs Weasley, who was shrieking "No, Arthur, no!"

The crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over and the assistant cried "Gentlemen, please…please.!" And then, louder than all…

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up…"

Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant, he had pulled Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy apart. Mr Weasley had a cut lip and Mr Weasley had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopaedia of Toadstools. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at Ginny, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl…take your book…it's the best you father can give you…" pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignore him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that…no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter – bad blood, that's what it is…come on now…let's get outta here"

The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs Weasley beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children…brawling in public…what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought…"

"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report"

"Said it was all publicity…" George added.

They went back to the burrow after that, using the Floo. Luckily this time Harry had done it right and they all appeared where they should.


	17. The Whomping Willow

Chapter Sixteen

_The Whomping Willow_

The end of the summer holidays came much too quickly for Briar's liking, she couldn believe that soon she would be going back to attending lessons and doing homework and getting detention from Snivillus.

On their last evening at the Burrow, Mrs Weasley conjured up a scrumptious dinner that included all of Harry's favourite things, which Briar thought was extremely nice of her, and it ended with a mouth-watering treacle pudding. Briar and the twins rounded off the even with a display of her Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from the ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

It took a long while to get started the next morning. They were up at dawn, but Briar had to be open a second time as she had fallen asleep in the middle of hastily doing her last minute packing.

Mrs Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands. Mr Weasley nearly broke his neck tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car and Fred had fallen on Briar at the bottom of the stairs and Harry looked like he wanted to punch Fred when he saw their state of half dress, but he calmed down when they explained that Fred tripped over Ron's broomstick and fell down the stairs, inadvertently landing on Briar.

Mr Weasley whispered for her and Harry not to mention the special features he had on the car when nine people, seven large trunks, three owls and a rat fit in the small Ford Angila due to the expansion spell.

When at last they were all on the car, Mrs Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Briar, Fred, George and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" she and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"

Briar shared an amused look with Fred and George as they resisted the urge to laugh.

Mr Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard. Barely a second had passed when they had to go back, George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks (of course he told Mrs Weasley that it was his Transfiguration book). Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick, how he could forget something so important was beyond Briar, he Nimbus Two Thousand was the first thing she packed.

Tempers were running high when they were very late and Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. When the young girl clambered back into the car Briar frowned when she saw the black leather diary in Ginny's hand, opposed to the flowery book Briar had seen her writing in earlier in the summer.

"Ginny, that's not your diary" Briar commented.

"Of course it is" Snapped Ginny.

Briar was about to comment again, but Ginny turned to loudly talk to MRs Weasley about her excitement to start Hogwarts. She turned to share a bewildered look with the others only to see that they hadn't noticed the exchange.

Mr Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.

"Molly, dear…"

"No, Arthur…"

"No one would see – this little button here is an invisibility booster I installed – that'd get us up in the air – then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser…"

"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight…"

They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station. Mrs Weasley was looking around at the muggles and telling each of them when to go through the barrier, not wanting to attract the attention of the non-magical community.

Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr Weasley went next and the Briar followed with Fred and George, leaving Mrs Weasley, Ginny, Harry and Ron the only ones left on the muggle side of the barrier.

"Hurry up, you two, Lee said he'd save us a compartment near the back" Briar told the twins as she hurriedly began to drag her toward the train.

"Ugh, you're being such a kill joy, Bambi" Fred moaned as he looked up from turning a few of the first years different colours, much to some of the muggle parents horror.

"Oh, I'm a kill joy?" Briar asked, rising her brows challengingly.

Fred and George shared a glance before saying "yes" simultaneously.

Briar scoffed and once they had stashed their trunks in an empty compartment, began to root through her trunk, she would show them, she had never been called a kill joy in her life and she wasn't about to start now.

"What are you doing?" asked George in confusion.

She had pulled out some of her fireworks and some muggle bouncy balls she had gotten when she went into the muggle town with her Uncle Moony at the beginning of summer. Briar opted not to answer George as she wrapped the fireworks around the bouncy balls until they were secure.

"Watch and learn" Briar told the twins with a smirk as she walked purposefully down the corridor down to the compartment she knew the sixth year Slytherins always were.

She discretely slid open the door and frowned angrily as she heard the word 'Mudblood' get thrown into their conversation casually. She smirked evilly as she lit the fireworks with her wand and threw the bouncy balls into the compartment as hard as she could.

Briar laughed loudly as she heard the Slytherin's scream, the fireworks bouncing around in unpredicted places as they released brightly coloured sparks.

"POTTER!" she heard a burly sixth year named Kript shout and the compartment slam open.

"Run!" she shouted through chuckles at the twins, who were looking at her in awe.

Needing no warning the twins took off at a run towards the front of the train and Briar hightailed it in the opposite direction. Briar only could here thundering footsteps behind her as the Slytherins tried to catch her, so quickly ducked behind a gaggle of third year Hufflepuffs and into a seemingly empty compartment.

She grabbed the corner of the curtain on the compartment's door and peeked through the window. Briar saw the Slytherins angrily stomp past the compartment and grinned in triumph as they seemed not to realize that the intended target had gotten away.

"Hello…" a rather dreamy voice said.

"Bloody-" Briar jumped in shocked and whirled around.

The compartment wasn't empty as she had first thought, there was a lone first year sitting in the corner, a copy of the Quibbler held in her hand. The girl had large blue eyes, pale skin and dirty blonde hair that was so long she could sit on it.

"Oh, I didn't notice you" Briar commented.

The girl looked at her and Briar couldn't help but shift slightly under the younger girl's gaze, it felt like she was looking into her very soul.

"It was probably the nargles messing with your vision" the blonde girl said finally in the same airy tone as she had first spoken with.

Briar raised her dark brows.

"Nargles…" she said slowly, drawing out the unknown word as she tasted it on her tongue.

The blonde girl nodded but otherwise didn't respond, just continued to stare at her with her wide blue eyes.

Briar ruffled her hair.

"Well, I'm-"

"Briar Rose Potter, you're Harry Potter's sister" the girl said and there was no question in her voice.

Briar opened her mouth to ask how she knew who she was, but snapped it closed again and shook her head, deciding she should probably not question the strange girl and besides, Potter's were rather easy to recognise due to their trademark messy black hair and especially since her twin was 'the boy who lived'.

"Has anyone told you you're a bit…" Briar trailed off, not thinking strange was the best word to describe the girl.

"Dreamy?" the girl supplied.

"Sure, let's go with that" said Briar, smiling cheerily.

"A lot of people…tell me I'm a bit…dreamy" she told her with an airy look on her face "but I like the idea of that. Of being somewhere else."

Briar wasn't quite sure what to make of that so she just pursed her lips with raised brows and ruffled her hair again.

"Ri-ight" Briar dragged out the word "well, I'm going to go…"

The girl did even acknowledge that she had spoken, just opened the magazine in her hand and began to read it. Okay, Briar thought, and left the compartment without another word.

Briar put the encounter with the strange, dreamy girl out of her mind and instead went to meet up with Lee and the twins in a compartment near the back. She swerved to avoid a fanged Frisbee that was barrelling down the train corridor and smirked when she heard Percy's shouts as he scolded its owner.

When she met up with the boys in the third compartment from the back, she exchanged stories with Lee about their summers. Apparently his little sister Holly got her first boyfriend over the summer and got jelly stuffed in his sneakers for threating the boy in every muggle way he could think of. He also told her how his cousin Geoff is going to get married, but he didn't think it was going to last as he was almost certain he was cheating on her.

Briar was laughing at Lee's story of a prank he had pulled on his parents (secretly feeding them a magnetizing potion so that all the cutlery stuck to them) when she happened to glance out the window and her eyes grew wide.

Flying in the sky alongside the train was the Weasley's turquoise blue Angila. Through the front window she could easily see the messy black and red heads of Harry and Ron inside.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Briar breathed to Lee as she continued to stare at the flying car, thinking that if she took her eyes off of it, it would vanish.

She saw Lee frown out of the corner of her eyes before he followed her gaze and his chocolate brown eyes went wide too.

"Bloody hell!" Lee exclaimed and Briar sighed in relief that she wasn't imagining it.

"What?" Fred asked around the multitude of Bertie Botts every flavour beans as George had been stuffing as many as he could into his twins mouth to see how many would fit.

Briar and Lee didn't answer just silently pointed towards her twin and Ron driving the flying car. Fred and George stood up to look of the window and both cursed in surprise.

"I can't believe they didn't ask us to go with them!" Fred exclaimed.

"I know right" Briar said, now that the shock had worn off she was feeling rather offended that her twin was off having an adventure without her.

"We're never going to be able to top that entrance" Lee sighed and Briar nodded reluctantly in agreement.

When the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade station. Briar told Hermione, Neville, Seamus and Dean about what she, Lee and the twins had seen Ron and Harry do as they went to the castle on the Thestral drawn carriages.

Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes, clearly thinking she was messing with her and the more she tried to convince the girl it was the truth, the more Hermione seemed inclined to believe it was a lie. On the other hand Seamus and Dean were talking excitedly about the brilliance of it and Neville was looking worriedly at the sky, as though he expected the flying car to crash into them.

Harry and Ron weren't at the sorting feast either and judging by the noticeable absence of Snivillus and Minnie, they had gotten caught. This meant that Flitwick had read out the list of first years instead of Minnie, the list was taller than he was.

Briar clapped eagerly as the sorting hat finished its song and bowed to the four tables. However, the eagerness soon dwindled as the sorting hat went on. And on. And on. It seemed to take a lot longer when you weren't the one getting sorted.

Briar zoned out after 'Luna Lovegood', which turned out to be the dreamy girl from the train, was sorted into Ravenclaw.

She moaned as the sorting continued, the Hufflepuffs erupting into applause as they got a new first year, gripping her stomach and resting her forehead on top of her empty golden plate.

"I swear, I'm going to eat my own arm before he gets through the bloody list" Briar grumbled.

Lee made a humming sound and rubbed her back sympathetically.

Finally, it reached the last person, which turned out to be a very pale looking Ginny. However, just as the rest of Weasley's had, Ginny was quickly sorted into Gryffindor. The twins whooped happily and Briar clapped as the girl rushed to sit with the other first years looking very relieved. Percy reached to shake Ginny's hand, congratulating her on getting into Gryffindor, just as he had done to Ron when he had been sorted.

Flitwick rolled up the list of names, carried the stool to the side of the hall and hurried quickly off to his seat at the high table. Briar looked up as Dumbledore cleared his throat, the whole hall going silent as he got to his feet.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, and to those first joining us, I hope you enjoy the start of your school careers. I have a few words to say before we begin the feast. I would like to give a warm welcome to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart" Dumbledore said, giving a small, pleasant clap.

Lockhart, clad in cherry coloured robes, got to his feet and shot the hall one of his famous smiles, tipping his pointed wizards hat. There was scattered applause across the hall. From the female population the cheers seemed to be extremely enthusiastic, while the boys less so and Briar didn't even both to clap at all, just sharing an unimpressed look with Lee.

The teachers seemed to have the same idea of Lockhart as she did as there claps seemed bored and there smiles becoming forced, just as they did in Briar's first year when the school song was mentioned.

"And my final words are this: Seven, flick, jibber and wink. Thank you" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling as Briar and the twins shouted 'Yes!' when the food appeared, before he sat down.

Briar stuffed as much food into her mouth as quick as could, despite the big breakfast off of Mrs Weasley and the multitude of sweets on the train, she was starving.

"Honestly, you're as bad as Ron" Hermione commented as she pecked at her own food, wrinkling her nose distastefully.

Briar mumbled something indistinguishable around a mouthful of mashed potatoes so that Hermione just scoffed and turned to carry out a conversation with one of the more studious looking first years.

After the school song, which her, the twins, and Lee sang with a cheesy muggle carnival tune, the prefects led the first years to bed and not long after everyone else followed.

Briar and Hermione decided they were going to stay up to wait for Harry and Ron to return, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea. Almost all the Gryffindors had latched onto the rumours of the flying car and were all whispering excitedly together as they glanced at the portrait hole for the two second years to return.

Since she and Hermione were waiting right by the portrait hole, they easily heard when the fat lady said "Password?" and they guessed who was on the other side.

Hermione pushed past Briar and threw the portrait hole open and Briar was sure she heard the fat lady humph in annoyance.

"There you are!" Hermione exclaimed at Ron and Harry "Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumours…someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"

"Well, we haven't been expelled" Harry assured Hermione.

Briar smirked at her twin's lack of denial.

"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione.

Her friend sounded almost as severe as Minnie had when she and the twins had pranked Moaning Myrtle by exploding a toilet, the temperamental ghost threw a tantrum for the next week and she and the twins had to mop up the corridor every time she flooded it.

"Of course they did, 'Mione. I told you, Lee, Fred, George and I saw them" Briar said, rolling her eyes.

Hermione shot Briar a reprimanding look before turning to the boys again, her lips pursed.

"Skip the lecture" said Ron impatiently "and tell us the new password"

"It's wattlebird" said Hermione in the same impatient tone Ron had used with her "but that's not the point…"

Her words were cut short, however, as the rest of Gryffindor house seemed to have noticed Harry and Ron so there was a sudden storm of clapping. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Briar and Hermione to scramble in after them.

"Brilliant!" yelled Lee, swinging an arm around Briar's shoulders as she addressed Ron and her twin "Inspired! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years…"

Briar raised her brows at the mention of the swinging tree that had been planted upon her Uncle Moony's arrival to Hogwarts. Lee must have picked up that tid-bit from someone else.

"The Whomping Willow?!" Briar exclaimed "Excellent! Bet you had quite the adventure battling that old tree, I can't believe I missed it!"

Hermione hit her on the arm in a reprimand, but Briar ignored her.

Fred and George pushed their way through the crowd towards them, grinning from ear to ear, and said together "why couldn't we have come in the car, eh?"

Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassingly as everyone continued to cheer and grin at the spectacle that as surely going to make Gryffindor popular for years to come. Briar, however, spotted one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling Harry and Ron off.

She removed her boyfriend's arm from her shoulder and nudged the pair in the ribs.

"Better watch out you pair" Briar told them over the loud common room "Prissy Prefect Percy is on the move." She nodded in Percy's direction.

The two of them seemed to get the point at once.

"Got to go upstairs…bit tired" Ron said loudly and then the two of them starting pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.

Briar turned around to be met with Hermione looking off in the direction Harry and Ron had just left with a scowl that rivalled Percy's.

"Honestly, those two, they broke the rules and not for the first time I might add, and could have been expelled, but are they taking it seriously? No. and I'll tell you another thing…"

Hermione's rant continued for a long time, long enough that the crowd in the common room had dispersed and Briar was weighing the pros and cons on whether commanding Zingy to chop of her ears would be a good idea, it would certainly be more merciful than listening to this lecture.

Briar ended up having to retire to the fourth year boys' dorm to share a bed with Lee just to get some peace.


	18. Gilderoy Lockhart

Chapter Seventeen

_Gilderoy Lockhart_

The next day in the Great Hall, the four long house table were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, all beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy grey). Briar filled her plate with anything and everything and almost immediately began stuffing her face, trying to ignore Hermione, who was trying to be obvious in her disapproval of what Harry and Ron had done.

Neville, who was a round-faced and accident prone boy with the worst memory of anyone Briar had ever met, said cheerfully "Mail's due any minute…I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot"

Briar looked up eagerly when there was suddenly a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. She smiled when a letter was dropped in front of her and Onyx flew off, not bothering to stay for food like she sometimes did.

_Dear Bambi,_

_I'm glad to hear you had a safe trip to Diagon Alley, although I will need to have a word with you about Knockturn Alley next I see you, I have told you time and time again that you are not allowed down there! _

_Dumbledore chose Lockhart for the Defence Against the Dark Art's professor? Really? He was a couple of years below me when I was at Hogwarts, he was a Hufflepuff and was dumb as a flobberworm, I'm not sure how well your lessons are going to be. _

_You say, Harry and Ron arrived in flying car? The marauder in me wants to revel in how brilliant that sounds, but since I'm your guardian and Harry's your brother, I'm going to have to say that I agree with Hermione on this, it was very reckless and irresponsible of them. If they were stuck on the other side of the barrier they should have sent word with an owl or waited for Molly and Arthur to return. I have to say I feel rather guilty that the Whomping Willow caused them mither, it is only there because of me after all. _

_Write to me how the Quidditch try-outs go, I just know you're going to make chaser!_

_Love, Moony _

_P.S. That boyfriend of yours better be keeping his hands to himself or I may have to introduce him to Moony the marauder some time, and trust me, he has not mercy. _

Briar laughed at the last comment and her laughter was only spurred on when Lee read the letter over her shoulder and paled drastically when he saw the last comment.

Her head snapped in Harry and Ron's direction when she heard a roar of sound fill the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling, from their direction. It took her a moment to recognize the screaming voice as Mrs Weasley. Ron had gotten a Howler.

"-STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEYD EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT 'TIL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSED YOU STOPPED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE-"

Mrs Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafening off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swivelling around to see who had received the howler and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.

"-LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER AND I WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE DIED-"

Briar thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, but that did seem to stop Harry from sinking into his chair much like Ron had, a guilty look suddenly plastered on his face.

"-ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

A ringing silence feel. The red envelop of the howler, dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.

"Merlin" Lee breathed with wide eyes, never having heard Mrs Weasley shout before.

"I know, I hate Howlers, you can't get he out of her stride" Fred said, looking over at Ron and wincing on his behalf.

George and Briar just nodded, their eyes slightly wide as their ears continued to ring with shouts they had heard a lot over the summer.

Minnie was making her way down the Gryffindor table and Briar looked down at hers as Lee, Fred and George began to compare their own, seeing which lessons they had together. Briar's own time table told her that she had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first.

She groaned loudly. She hated Herbology so much, she would actually prefer to have detention in the potions room, at least then she got the bonus of being able to torment Snivillus until his cold black eyes flashed and his fingers twitched as though longing to draw his wand.

Briar left the castle with Harry, Ron and Hermione. They crossed the vegetable patch and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. She didn't mind being around her bushy haired friend now, she seemed to have relaxed and was being perfectly friendly now, clearly thinking that the howler had punished the boys enough.

As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. Briar and the others had only just joined them when the stout professor came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Professor Sprout's arms were full of bandages. She had clearly got hit by the Whomping Willow more than once when she was putting several of its branches in slings. Briar decided she'd best not tell Uncle Moony about that, knowing he would feel guilty despite the fact it wasn't his fault.

Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her fingernails had dried dirt beneath the,. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robe of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.

"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the assembled students "just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels…"

Briar frowned, glaring at the blonde haired man. She was starting to get annoyed at his arrogance. She knew she was by no means modest, but she didn't go around rubbing it in…well except with Slytherins, but that didn't count, they were all useless gits and they deserved it.

"Like you could tell her anything she doesn't already know…Professor Sprout is brilliant" Briar said to Lockhart coolly and Sprout beamed at her.

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, she was back to her usual cheerful self after Briar's words, rather than the disgruntled look she had on when she had arrived.

There was a murmur of interest from most, but Briar groaned. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before…greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants, but she just saw it as more of an opportunity to humiliate herself with her lack of Herbology skills, and Briar Rose Potter did not like to be humiliated.

She didn't see the point in Herbology anyway. So what if she couldn't keep a plant alive for more than a week? She had plenty of other and more relevant talents.

"Harry! I've been wanting a word…you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" Lockhart's voice came and Briar turned from making her way into the greenhouse and saw that Lockhart's hand had shot out to stop Harry from following her and the others inside.

Judging by Professor Sprout's scowl, she did mind, but Lockhart said "that's the ticket and slammed the greenhouse door in her face. Briar caught a glance of Harry's despairing face as the door closed.

"He's a bit of a prat, isn't he?" Briar said to Professor Spout dryly and the Professor nodded, the scowl still marring her usually cheerful face.

"Okay!" Mrs Sprout said loudly, clapping her hands together as she moved to stand behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse "As you are aware, greenhouse three holds some of the more dangerous plants and we will therefore have to be a lot more careful and take more precautions. Such as…."

Professor sprout flicked her wand and about twenty par of different-coloured ear muffs were levitated onto the bench in front of her. Briar shared a bewildered look with Ron. What in Merlin's name would they need earmuffs for?

It was that moment that Harry quietly made his way inside, taking his place between her and Ron. She shot him a questioning look, wondering what Lockhart could have wanted with him, and he shook his head giving her a look that told her he would tell her later.

"We'll be re-potting Mandrakes today." Professor Spout said "Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was the first into the air.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione, sounding as usual as though she had swallowed the textbook "it is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand messed up Briar's hair as it shot up again. She scowled as she ruffled her messy black hair back in an acceptable position.

"What about you, Miss Potter?" Professor Sprout asks her.

"Urm…" Briar stuttered, looking to Hermione for help, but the girl was pouting slightly for not having been picked to answer so she looked back to the Professor "because it's harmful to people who hear it?" her answer came out more like a question.

"Not quite. The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it" Professor Sprout corrected "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young"

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in colour, were growing there in rows.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Professor Sprout.

There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy, it ended up being Neville who had gotten stuck with them.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered" said Professor Sprout "when it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right…earmuffs on"

Briar snapped the earmuffs over her ears in sync with everyone else. They shut out sound completely. Professor Sprout put another pink, fluffy pair over her won ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

Instead of roots, a small muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the early. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Briar thought it looked very easy, which she took to mean that it would be the hardest thing she'd ever done. Merlin she hated Herbology.

Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

"As out Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first way back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Five to a tray…there is a large supply of pots here – compost in the sacks over there – and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula. It's teething"

She gave a slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder.

Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione were joined at their tray by a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy who Briar knew by sight but had never spoken to.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley" he said brightly, shaking Harry by the hand "Know who you are, of course, the famous Harry Potter…and you're Hermione Granger…always top in everything" (Hermione beamed as she had her hand shaken too) "Briar Rose Potter…prankster, always in detention...and Ron Weasley. Wasn't that your flying car?"

Ron didn't smile. The howler was obviously still on his mind.

"That Lockhart's something isn't he?" said Justin happily as they began filling their plant pots will dragon dung compost.

"That's one way to describe him" Briar muttered.

"Awfully brave chap." Justin continued, not having heard her comment "have you read his books? I'd have died of fear if I'd been cornered in a telephone booth by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and – zap – just fantastic"

Briar scowled into her plant pot. She had actually read his books and his portrayal of werewolves had annoyed her. She had been with Moony on every full moon since she was two years old, and the way he described the werewolf was nothing like the real thing, not even without the Wolfsbane potion.

"My name was down or Eton, you know. I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books, I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family…"

After that they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the Mandrakes. Just as Briar had suspected, it wasn't nearly as easy as Professor Sprout made it look. `the Mandrakes didn't like coming out of the earth, but didn't seem to want to go back into it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and gnashed their teeth.

Briar's Mandrake had gotten a fistful of her hair and it had taken Harry a full ten minutes, as Ron tried to squash a particularly fat one into a part, to untangle it from her and shove it in a pot. Briar scowled at a few of the Hufflepuffs that were gathered around the tray next to theirs when they snickered and pointed at her. She's said it before and she'll say it again, she hate's Herbology.

By the end of the class, Briar, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching and covered in earth. Everyone traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash, but none faster than Briar who was annoyed at the sheer amount of dirt that was in her hair and the way the earmuffs flattened the locks down so that they weren't only messy, but had a big kink in too.

Minnie's classes were better this year than last, the transfigurations begin more complicated. They were supposed to be turning a beetle into a button and just like she normally did in her favourite lesson, Briar had accomplished it first.

Harry on the other hand, didn't seemed to be having much luck, all he had managed to do was give him beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the desktop to avoiding his wand.

Ron had it much worse than her twin, however. His wand had been broken when he and Harry had crashed into the Whomping Willow and had now been patched up with some Spellotape he borrowed off of her, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle, it engulfed him in thick grey smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. Unable to see what he was doing, Ron accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one. Minnie wasn't pleased.

Briar piled out of the classroom with everyone else and went to meet up to the Gryffindor common room. She found Fred and George in the comfiest chairs by the fireplace and quickly made her way over. She plopped down on Fred's lap, but when she did, he tensed. She turned on his knee to look at him in confusion, but he was avoiding her gaze, so she just shook her head.

"Okay, you know how you had the idea to create sweets that make you ill?" she asked the twins.

"Yeah?" they said simultaneously, Fred seeming to come out of whatever strange mood he was in.

"Well we were repotting Mandrake in Herbology. Did you know that they are a restorative?" she hinted.

Fred and George shared a glance.

"Um…so?" George asked with furrowed brows.

Briar sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't you get it? What if we use it as one of the ingredients to make an antidote? You eat the first sweet to get out of class and then you eat the antidote and you're free to do whatever you want" Briar explained.

"Brilliant!" George exclaimed and Briar smiled smugly, ruffling her hair.

"Maybe we could make them into one sweet, have it double sided or something, the antidote a different colour" Fred suggested.

A moment later Briar had to go to lunch on her own, since Fred and George _actually_ went to the library, trying to find something else to help them make the sweets. After stuffing some buttons down Malfoy's robes and transfiguring them into beetles, she made her way over to where Harry, Ron and Hermione were at the Gryffindor table, laughing as Malfoy squealed and ran from the great hall.

"What've we got this afternoon?" said Harry.

"Defence against the Dark arts," said Hermione at once.

"Why," demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, "have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

Briar looked over Ron's shoulders to see that Ron was correct. She wrinkled her nose and raised disbelieving brows at Hermione. 'Mione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously.

When lunch was over Briar went down to maple tree by the lake with butterbeers he had bought from Hogsmeade in his free period. Briar sat in between Lee's outstretched legs and leaned back to red her head on his chest.

"I hate Lockhart, he's a complete joke, and all the girls seemed to be in love with him." Lee told her with a groan, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Well, trust me, I'm not one of them" Briar scoffed "Is he that bad? I have him this afternoon"

"Just stay out of his eye line if you know what's good for you, I think I'm going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. He made me act out of the scenes from his book. I had to pretend to be a Banshee, you should have seen the Slytherins, they got a right laugh out of it"

"I bet I can cheer you up" Briar said, turning around to face him with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah? How?" Lee scoffed, rising a dark brow sceptically.

Briar bit her lip and trailed a finger down his chest, looking up at him through her lashes, trying to look as suggestive as possible.

"Oh" Lee breathed in realisation, a smile tugging at his lips.

He buried a hand into her hair and used it as leverage to pull her closer and pressed his lips to hers. She felt that familiar jolt deep inside of her and smiled against his lips. She just began to move her lips against his to deepen the kiss when:

"BAMBI!" a loud voice shouted close by, making the two of them jump apart.

Briar looked up and sighed in annoyance when she saw it was Fred who had interrupted them, gesturing for her to come over.

Briar frowned and patter Lee on the thigh as she stood up and wandered over to Fred.

"Yeah?" she asked shortly, feeling a little annoyed that her time with her boyfriend had been disturbed.

"Urm...i was…I was wondering, if…" Briar raised a brow as Fred stuttered, he didn't seem to know what he had been wondering and just as she was about to roll her eyes and go back to Lee, Fred blurted "I was wondering if you'll help me with my homework!" his voice louder and higher pitched than normal.

"You're doing homework?" Briar asked in half part amusement, half part disbelief "and besides, you're a fourth year, how am I supposed to help you?"

The tips of Fred's ear turned as red as his hair as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"HA!" Fred burst out loud enough to make her jump and he gave a nervous laugh "I guess you're right…duh! I'm so stupid sometimes. I'll just go ask Lee for help then…"

She watched as Fred walked tensely over to Lee, who had been joined by George since she had left him. Briar frowned and shook her head and Fred's strange behaviour, deciding it was probably better not to question it. Maybe he had been hit by a confundus charm in the hallway or something.

When Briar got to Defence Against the Dark Arts after lunch was over, the first thing she did was sit at the back of the classroom and pile all her books in front of her. She had taken Lee's advice to heart and was trying to make herself the least visible to the Professor as possible.

Harry seemed to have the same idea as her as when he turned up he sat down next to her and piled his books in front of himself too.

As the rest of the class clattered into the room, Harry told her in a hushed whisper about what had occurred with Lockhart and Colin Creevey over lunch. Apparently Colin wanted a picture of him to prove he had met him and of course Malfoy had to cut in and make fun and now Lockhart seemed to believe that Harry wanted the same type of attention with him and was gunning to be just like him.

By the time Harry had finished the classroom was full, Ron having sat down on the other side of Harry and Hermione on Briar's right.

"You could've fried an egg on your face" said Ron, catching he tail-end of Harry's story "you'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club"

"Shut up" snapped Harry glaring at Ron, before turning to Briar when she started to laugh.

Lockhart cleared his throat loudly when he saw that the whole class was seated and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.

"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that."

"Oh, of course not, the fact he mentioned it now was entirely coincidental" Briar muttered sarcastically to Harry, making him smother a snort of laughter.

"I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" he waited for them to laugh, Briar just stared at him with raised brows as a few people smiled weakly. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books – well done. I thought we'd start with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about – just to check how well you've read them, how much you've take in…"

When he handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes – start – now!"

Briar looked down at her paper and read:

_What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?_

_What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:

_When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

Briar wrinkled her nose and shared an utterly disgusted look with Harry before a mischievous smirk appeared on her lips and eagerly grabbed her quill. She would answer all the questions, and she would answer them well.

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifles through them in front of the class.

"Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that favourite colour is lilac. I say so in Year With The Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully…I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples – though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!"

He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, and Briar were shaking with silent laughter.

"Miss Potter, the thing I most want to do before I die most certainly is not your Aunt Petunia" Lockhart said disapprovingly.

This was too much for Briar, Seamus and Dean and they began to roar with laughter, next to her Harry let out a loud snort and a good half of the class were trying extremely hard to smother their laughter. Hermione on the other hand, was giving Briar a glare and was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her names.

"…But Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions…good girl! In fact – " he flipped her paper over "-full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.

"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so…to business…"

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.

"Now…be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm"

Somehow Briar doubted that Lockhart would be able to protect them. If a group of death eaters rushed in a started to attack right now, she had a feeling that instead of protecting them he would use the students as human shields to save his own skin.

However, in spite of herself, Briar stopped laughing and leaned around her and Harry's piles of books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Dean and Seamus had also stopped laughing now and Neville was cowering in his front row seat.

"I must ask you not to scream" said Lockhart in a low voice "it might provoke them"

As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.

"Yes," he said dramatically "freshly caught Cornish Pixies"

Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" he smiled at Seamus.

"Well, they're not – they're not very – dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.

Briar couldn't help but agree. If anything Cornish Pixies took after her own heart and enjoyed mischievous and trouble, trying to be as destructive as possible.

"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"

The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to nails on a chalk board. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.

"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly "Let's see what you make of them!" and he opened the cage.

It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showing the back row with broken glass, making Briar wince when a piece cut her cheek.

The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging Hippogryff. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and three them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling.

"Come on now – round them up, round them up, they're only pixies" Lockhart shouted.

He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way.

The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were behind Briar as she was exiting the room, and said "Well, I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage"

He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him. Briar was about to leave, but Harry shot her a desperate look. She heaved a sigh, she couldn't argue with someone who shared her face. She was so close to be able to leave, but instead she joined her twin, Ron and Hermione in the classroom.

"Can you believe him?" roared Ron as one of the remaining pixies bit him painfully on the ear.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione, immobilizing two pixies at one with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage.

"Hands on?" Harry scoffed.

"'Mione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing…" Briar continued for Harry, immobilizing another pixie so that it froze half way through sticking its tongue out.

"Rubbish," said Hermione. "You've read his books…look at all those amazing things he's done"

"he says he's done," Briar, Harry and Ron muttered at the same time, but Hermione acted as though she didn't hear them.

**Author's Note: Well, here's the latest chapter. You'll notice there's some evidence of Fred acting strange as he begins to realise his feelings, being tense around Briar and tries to stop Briar and Lee kissing. **


	19. Chasers, Mudbloods and Murmurs

Chapter Eighteen

_Chasers, Mudbloods and Murmurs_

Briar was bouncing on the tips of her toes and her insides were twisting, but not from fear. Far from it. This was excitement. She was feeling this way because she was currently standing on the Quidditch pitch, her new Nimbus Two Thousand clutched in her hand, for today was the Quidditch try-outs. Just like the twins said Alicia Spinnett had in fact dropped her place from the team this year and Briar was feeling pretty confident that the space was hers, despite being the youngest one trying out.

In front of her was Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and Keeper, and next to her was Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, the Gryffindor chasers, they were currently looking at the people trying out and whispering to each other, clearly musing who would be on the team with them.

Briar was standing with a third year girl who looked as though she was moments from being sick, a seventh year boy, who looked rather smug, and a sixth year boy whose face she could vaguely recall from the common room but would never be able to point out in a crowd. She ruffled her hair. Yes, she was feeling confident in her chances.

"Okay, everyone" Oliver Wood said loudly, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to try you out individually with my chasers and see how you work as a team and see how many times you score. I want a nice clean try-out, and no hard feelings if you don't make it in. understand?"

Briar nodded along with the others.

"First up, Kieran Boyce" Oliver called.

The smug looking seventh year swaggered over, but from the white-knuckled grip he had on his broom Briar thought he was perhaps more nervous than he let on. The thought made her smirk.

Oliver grabbed his broom from Katie and a second later he, Boyce, and the two chasers soared into the air.

Briar watched carefully, trying to see any hints she could pick up on Oliver's tactics, something she could use against him when it was her turn, and small things she could pick up from Angelina and Katie to find a better way to work with them.

She noticed that Katie's left arm was weaker than her left and Angelina was a better scorer of the two, but Katie the faster flyer. It would probably be a good idea to allow Katie to get the Quaffle speed it down the pitch and allow Angelina to score.

Oliver on the other hand, was trickier to read, he was a good keeper, brilliant in fact. She could barely see any gaps in his game, however one thing she did notice is that he went to the left more often than the right, but she could tell if that might just be a one off.

Boyce was a good flyer, she'd give him that, he was quick and his size definitely gave him the strength advantage, but he didn't seem to be working that well with the two girls. He pushed Angelina out of the way so that he could score instead, and refused to pass to Katie despite the fact that they would have scored quicker if her had.

By the time Oliver blew his whistle again, Boyce had scored five times and Angelina and Katie looked particularly disgruntled at the boy.

"Next up, Holly Kurano" Oliver called as they touched back down on the ground, sounding slightly out of breath.

The third year stumbled forward, her tan face unusually pale and she was clutching onto her broom like it was a life line. When Oliver blew his whistle to signal them to get into the air, Briar was sure Kurano was either going to cry, wet herself or be sick. She clambered shakily onto her broom and flew into the air she was holding her broom extremely tight and looking at the ground as though she longed to return to it.

Briar could hardly watch the awful spectacle that occurred in the next ten minutes. The entire lack of Quidditch skills was cringe worthy. Kurano had almost fallen off of her broom more times than she had scored. The whole thing ended when she threw the Quaffle at Angelina's face and they had to land in order for Oliver to heal her as Kurano, almost in tears, spewed apology after apology at the older girl.

"Okay" Oliver said, but he sounded rather weary. "Now it's Kenneth Juniper."

Now it was the sixth years turn. As much as Briar hated to admit it, he was a good flyer. He worked rather well with Angelina and Katie, it wasn't as flawless as when they had been with Alicia but it was pretty good, and he had scored eight times.

Finally, it was Briar's turn.

Briar flew up confidently, steady on her broom. She loved her Nimbus, it seemed to respond to her very thoughts and, in her opinion, that was exactly how a broom should behave.

She worked well with the other two, playing on their strengths. She and Katie passed to each other seamlessly before passing to Angelina who was able to score easily. Once Briar managed to duck under the flying Quaffle in order for it to get to Katie even Quicker and they scored in mere seconds.

When Oliver blew his whistle to signal the end of her turn, Briar was disappointed with the fact tha she had only scored seven times, one less than Juniper. She knew she could've done better, however she was hoping she would still make the team due to her better teamwork skills, in total she and the other chasers had scored more than they had with the other people trying out.

"Thank you all for trying out. I will post the new chaser on the board tomorrow morning" Oliver told them loudly, before they all made their way back to the castle.

The next morning almost all of Gryffindor tower was awoken by a scream of excitement. Briar Rose Potter was officially the third chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"That's brilliant, Bambi!" Fred and George exclaimed simultaneously as she walked up to them with an excited grin, ruffling her hair smugly, informing them of her new position on the team.

"We've got to celebrate!" said Fred.

"A prank" George nodded in agreement, a large grin on both of the Weasley's faces.

Briar paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face, prank after prank running through her mischievous mind. Suddenly a smirk bloomed on her face, her eyes lighting up in a look that her Uncle Moony called the 'Marauder expression'.

"I have the perfect idea" Briar told them, her hazel eyes sparkling.

Later that day while everyone else was at dinner, Briar and the twins were walking through the halls, a cage full of Cornish pixies held between them, covered in her and Harry's invisibility cloak. This prank better be a good one after all the trouble they went through to get them from the forest.

"Why are you three not in the Great hall?" a stern and suspicious voice said behind them.

Briar and the twins froze, sharing a surprised look, giving a small wince. The three of them donned their best innocent expression and turn in sync, circling around each other in able to keep the cage in between them steady.

"Hey, Minnie" Briar greeted in her most charming voice, forcing a smile onto her face.

Minnie's eyes narrowed, as she studied her face, her lips thinning, clearly recognising something in her expression.

"It's Professor McGonagall to you, Potter" Minnie said and Briar just waved her free hand dismissively, making Minnie's lips thin further "Please can you three explain to me what you are up to?"

"Nothing Professor we were just-" Fred started.

"-Going for a stroll through the castle" George finished for his twin, both of them with what they hoped was a disarming smile on their faces.

"Is that so?" Minnie asked dryly, her lips pursed as she eyed them.

"You know Gred, I have the sneaky suspicion she doesn't believe us" said Fred.

"I'm thinking the same thing, Forge" George agreed with a solemn nod and Briar had to purse he lips in a similar fashion as Minnie in order to resist the urge to laugh.

"How observant of you both" Minnie said narrowing her eyes "Now, tell me the real reason before I put you all into detention"

"Well-" Briar started, not feeling it was that bad of a punishment.

"_Separate_ detentions" Minnie corrected.

Briar shared a look with the twins and the three of them groaned together. Detentions were so boring without her best friends or Lee with her and were basically downright torture if that detention was with Filch.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth" Briar sighed in what she hoped seemed like a reluctant fashion and ignored the alarmed look the twins sent her way. "The truth is, we snuck down to the kitchens and now we're not hungry"

Fred and George shared a glance before looking back to Minnie, trying to act as though the story wasn't new to them.

Minnie seemed as though she was starting to believe them, but in that moment, one of the pixies decided to let out a high pitched squeal. Minnie's eyes narrowed in suspicion again and Briar shared a glance with the twins out of the corner of their eyes.

"And what, pray tell, was that?" Minnie asked, raising a questioning brow.

"That was me" George blurted "I've come down with something" George then gave a terrible sneeze, trying to sound as close as possible to the shrieking of the Pixies.

"Yeah, we were just taking him to the hospital wing weren't we, Bambi?" Fred asked, nodding hurriedly.

"Yeah, can't let my friend be ill" said Briar with a smile.

The three of them then turned as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid a punishment, however, it seemed they weren't quick enough as they were only a few steps away when Minnie said "I don't know what you are doing, but I'm sure you're up to something, so ten points from Gryffindor"

The three of them groaned and began to make their way through the castle with less enthusiasm than before.

Twenty minutes later, the pixies had been charmed to the best of the twin's ability and let lose in Lockhart's office, able to do nothing than attack the arrogant professor.

Briar was sure the image of him screeching, running through the hallways in a fluffy of powdered blue robes would be engrained in her mind forever. She laughed so hard that she had to lean on Fred for support. With the tears of laughter that filled her hazel eyes she didn't see Fred blush almost as red as his hair at her close proximity.

After the prank the three of them didn't even get a detention or lose another point. She was pretty sure the teachers like the new DADA professor almost as much as the majority of the students did, she was almost certain even Snivillus enjoyed it. He certainly wasn't swooping around in his usual bad temper and he didn't even scold Neville in the following Potions lesson.

The whispers and excitement about how Ron and Harry arrived at Hogwarts via flying car had finally started to settle down, but Ron's wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting Flitwick squarely between the eyes, creating a large, throbbing green boil where it had struck.

Briar was quite glad to reach the weekend. She, Harry, Ron and Hermione were planning to visit Hagrid on Saturday morning, however she was awoken much earlier than she thought she was going to be by Angelina Johnson, her now fellow chaser.

"Whassammatter?" said Briar groggily, sitting up slowly in her bed, her hair even more unruly than usual.

"Quidditch practice" Angelina told her, rubbing her eyes tiredly and smothering a yawn "Oliver's gone practice crazy, it's the crack of dawn" she groaned, before the older girl stumbled away in order to get her Quidditch gear on.

Briar squinted at the window to see that Angelina was right, it was in fact the crack of dawn. There was a thin mist handing across the pink-and-gold-sky. Now that she was awake, Briar couldn't understand how she could have slept through the racket the birds were making.

However, the early start meant nothing to Briar. She leapt out of bed and eagerly ran to the bathroom to get ready and to put on her Quidditch gear for the first time. Quidditch was the one thing Briar would get up early for, well, that and pranking.

Briar eyes were gleaming with crazed enthusiasm as she grabbed her Nimbus Two Thousand and began to make her way from the dorms, common room and eventually castle. Oliver had come up with a great training program, none of the other teams had even started training yet, they were sure to get a good form perfected before the others.

Not soon after, Briar was sitting in the changing rooms with the rest of the team, waiting for Harry to arrive. Briar and Oliver seemed to be the only ones that were wide awake and eager to begin practice, but then again she supposed Oliver was just as much of a Quidditch fanatic as she was.

She was sitting in between Fred and George, who were puffy eyed and tousle haired. George's head was resting on her shoulder, his eyes flickering as he tried to keep them open. Her fellow chasers, Katie and Angelina, were yawning side by side opposite the three of them.

Finally Harry entered, looking tired and had a distinct rumpled expression. Briar could only assume that someone had annoyed him as that was the only time her twin got that particular expression.

"There you are, Harry, what kept you?" said Oliver briskly "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the different…"

Oliver was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and crosses in different coloured links. He took his wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Briar listened to the captain launch himself into a speech about his new tactics, she let out a small snort of laughter as Fred's head dropped right onto her shoulder and he began to snore quietly.

The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain and there was another board after tha and a third under that one. Briar listened with rapt attention and admitted quite willingly that the tactics Oliver came up with were a stroke of brilliance, she was sure if they perfected them they would have the Quidditch cup in the bag.

"So," said Oliver, making Harry jerk to attention opposite her "is that clear? Any questions?"

"I've got a question, Oliver" said George, who had lifted his head from her shoulder with a sigh "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Oliver wasn't pleased.

"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, his glower only passing over Briar, who was the only team member fully awake "we should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately…owing to circumstances beyond our control…"

Briar rolled her eyes as Harry began to shift guiltily in his seat. He was acting as though defeating Voldemort wasn't more important, even Briar could admit that stopping the 'dark lord' coming to power again held priority over Quidditch.

Oliver took a moment to regain control of himself. Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him. Although Briar supposed she would be upset if she was the captain when Gryffindor suffered its worst defeat in three hundred years.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before…okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Oliver shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading his way out of the locker rooms.

Briar eagerly grabbed her own broomstick and shook Fred awake, frowning at the soft blush that covered his cheeks when he jerked away from her, mumbling apologies. Fred had been acting very weird lately, they had shared a bed the majority of last year and a little during the summer when George's bed was burnt from the accidental fired, but now he was acting like it was awkward.

She shoved the thoughts from her head and quickly followed Oliver from the locker room, the rest of the team following stiff-legged and still yawning.

They had been in the locker room so long that the sun was up completely now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Briar walked onto the field, she saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the stands. She stared longingly at the toast and marmalade in their laps before mounting her broom and kicking off.

The cool morning air whipped her face and Briar grinned as she closed her eyes in bliss, this had to be the best feeling in the world.

When Briar opened her eyes again it was to see Fred hovering in the air in front of her, a strange expression on his face.

"What?" Briar asked, a smile in her voice.

Fred mumbled something under his breath. Briar didn't catch what he said, but she laughed, she was in too good of a mood to pay any mind to her best friends weird behaviour at the moment. She soared around the stadium at full speed, racing Harry, Fred and George.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.

Briar frowned as she heard the strange noise too. She looked to the stands. Colin Creevey was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, and taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.

"Look this way, Harry! This way!" he cried shrilly.

"Who that?" said George.

"No idea," Harry lied, glaring at her as she shot her twin a smirk of amusement, and put on a spurt of speed, clearly trying to get himself as far away from Colin as possible.

"What's going on?" said Oliver, frowning, as he skimmed through the air toward them "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program"

"He's in Gryffindor," Briar said.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver" said George.

Briar frowned at her best friend in confusion before following his gaze and grit her teeth in annoyance. Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands. The Slytherin Quidditch team was here.

"What makes you say that?" Oliver asked testily.

"Because they're here in person," Fred said for his twin, pointing.

"I don't believe it!" Oliver hissed in outrage "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"

Oliver shot toward the ground, landing rather hard than he meant to in his anger, making him stagger slightly as he dismounted. Briar, Harry, Fred and George followed.

"Flint!" Oliver bellowed at the Slytherin captain "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus Flint was even larger than Oliver.

He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood"

Briar scoffed. If those slimy gits were to practice at the same time no doubt they would steal some of their game plans or at least try to hit them with as many 'stray' Bludgers as possible. Angelina and Katie had now come over too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors.

"But I booked the field!" said Oliver, positively spitting with rage "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint "But I've got a specially signed not here from professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new seeker'"

Briar was about to comment that of course Snivillus would allow such a thing, but got distracted by the last common. She frowned. New seeker?"

Oliver seemed to be on the same wave-length as her as he said, distracted, "You've got a new seeker? Where?"

And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy. Briar groaned, gritting her teeth in annoyance, of course it had to be that snivelling git.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team"

All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand new handles and seven sets of find gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One, gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun/

"Very latest model. Only came out last month" said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Clean Sweeps-" he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Clean Sweep Fives, Briar sneered and moved to take a step toward them, but Harry held her back and she could see Fred doing the same to his own twin "-sweeps the board with them"

None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for the moment. Briar and George were positively fuming with anger at the comment he made with the clear undertone of the Weasley's lack of money. It didn't help her anger one bit when she saw that Malfoy was smirking so broadly that he cold eyes were reduced to slits.

"Oh, look," said Flint "a field invasion"

Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry, who still had a firm grip on her arm "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?" he was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin seeker, Weasley" said Malfoy, smugly "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team"

Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven, although she loathed to admit it due to who they belonged to, superb broomsticks in front of them.

"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothing "but perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Clean Sweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them"

The Slytherin team howled with laughter. Briar's jaw twitched in anger and she longed to draw her wand, which was talking carefully inside her Quidditch robes, and Fred had to tighten his grip on George to stop him from lunging at the younger boy.

"At least no one of the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply "they got in on pure talent"

The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered and Briar smirked, she had never been prouder to call Hermione Granger her friend.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

Briar felt an intense rage bubble inside of her and let out a shriek of anger. There was an instant uproar with the others too. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him.

"How dare you!" Ron shrieked.

Yanking her arm from her brother's grip, she plunged her hand into her robes, pulled out her wand and yelled, "you'll pay for that one, Malfoy" pointing it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face.

Briar quickly hit Malfoy with several hex's so that when she was done he was dancing uncontrollably with bunny ears coming out of his head, the transfiguration having gone slightly haywire in her rage.

"I'll get you for this, Potter!" Malfoy roared as Flint removed the hexes.

Briar rolled her hazel eyes. In her opinion Malfoy should count himself luck that she was only a second year and didn't have many spells at her disposal. After calling Hermione a – a – you-know-what, he should be beaten to a bloody pulp.

Ron also seemed to think Malfoy hadn't suffered enough as he turned his own wand on Malfoy, but a loud bang emitted from it and Ron flew backward and landed hard onto the grass.

"Ron! Ron! Are you alright?" squealed Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.

Briar wrinkled her nose, but her disgust was cut shot as she turned to glare fiercely at the Slytherin team. They were paralyzed with laughter. Flint was double up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him, Briar among them.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, its nearest," said Harry to her and Hermione, the latter nodded bravely and Harry and Hermione pulled Ron up by the arms as Briar began to lead the way to Hagrid's.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin Creevey had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field.

Briar hurriedly moved out of the way as Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front.

"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera "Can you old him still, Harry?"

"Get out of the way, Colin!" said Harry angrily, and Briar didn't blame him from shouting, she could have said something a lot worse to the irritating little first year.

Harry and Hermione supported Ron out of the stadium and across the grounds toward the edge of the forest.

"Nearly there, Ron" said Briar as the gamekeeper's cabin came into view.

"You'll be alright in a minute…" Hermione added reassuringly "almost there…"

They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of pales mauve today, came striding out. Briar groaned internally.

"Quick, behind here," Harry hissed, Dragging Ron and Briar behind a nearby bush, she didn't put up a fight, Hermione however followed somewhat reluctantly.

"It's a simple matter of knowing what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one – I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, goodbye!" and he strode away toward the castle.

Briar scoffed loudly at Lockhart trying to give Hagrid advice. Next he'll be trying to teach Minnie transfiguration. Oh how she'd love to see that, Minnie would tear him a new one.

They waited until Hagrid was out of sight before the four of them, Harry still supporting Ron, came out from the bush and went up to Hagrid's front door. Briar and Hermione knocked urgently. A moment later Hagrid appeared, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me – come in, come in – thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again…"

Briar entered the cabin and situated herself on one of the chairs as Hermione helped Harry support Ron over the threshold into the one roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Briar wasn't surprised when Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem, which Harry had hastily explained as he lowered Ron into a chair.

"Better out than in" Hagrid said cheerfully, plunking a large copper basin in front of Ron "Get em all up, Ron"

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione anxiously, watching Ron bend over the basin "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand…"

Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His boarhound, Fang, seemed quite disappointed that Briar hadn't bought food for him as she usually does, but he was slobbering all over her anyway.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Briar asked, scratching Fang's ears.

"Givin' me advice on getting' Kelpies out of a well," Growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some Banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

Briar raised on dark eyebrow, marginally surprise. It was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts teacher, although Briar figured that if anyone was going to get the reaction from Hagrid it might as well be Lockhart.

Hermione, however, seemed to take a different view on things and said in a voice, somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job…"

Briar rolled her eyes. This little crush Hermione had on the man was getting a bit out of hand. You'd think that Hermione, the smartest witch of their age, of all people would be able to see what a total and utter fake he was.

"He was the on'y man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin "An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Hermione something…it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild" Harry explained, while Briar ground her teeth angrily at the very mention of the incident.

"It was bad," said Ron hoarsely, emerging over the table top looking pale and sweaty "Malfoy called her a Mudblood, Hagrid…"

Ron dived out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs made their appearance. Hagrid looked outraged, and for good reason too.

"He didn'!" he growled at Hermione.

"He did," she said "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course-"

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of" Briar growled though gritted teeth, glaring at the wall.

"Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is muggle-born – you know, non-magic parents." Gasped Ron, coming back up "There are some wizards – like Malfoy's family, who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pureblood." He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell into his out stretched hand; he threw it into the basin and continued, "I mean the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom – he's pureblood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up"

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," Briar spat. "It means dirty blood, common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles, we would've died out"

Ron retched and ducked out of sight again.

"Well, I don; blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," Said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble"

Briar decided not to say anything about the fact that she'd actually managed to hex Malfoy or that trouble didn't really come much worse that having slugs pouring out of your mouth. Her twin seemed to be having the exact same thoughts as she was, but when Harry went to say something, he couldn't, Hagrid's treacle fudge (that she knew better than to eat) had cemented his jaws together.

"Harry," said Hagrid abruptly as though struck by a sudden thought "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

Briar pressed her lips together to hide an amused smile, but was unable to when she saw the furiously look on her twin's face.

"I have not been giving out signed photos," he said hotly "If Lockhart's still spreading that around…"

Hagrid began to laugh and Briar let out a small chuckled.

"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Harry genially on the back and sending him face first into the table "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need them. Yer more famous than him without tryin'"

"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry, sitting up and rubbing his chin.

"Don' think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he added as Ron reappeared.

"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid as Briar, Harry and Hermione finished the last of their tea.

When she saw what Hagrid was talking about Briar's hazel eyes widened in shock. In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Briar had ever seen.

"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily and Briar felt that was a huge understatement "Fer the Halloween feast…should be big enough by then"

"What've you been feeding them?" breathed Briar, moving to touch one of the pumpkins as though expecting them to be fake.

Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check they were alone.

"Well, I've bin givin' them – you know – a bit o' help…"

Briar couldn't help but let out a laugh as she and Harry noticed Hagrid's flowery pink umbrella leaning against the cabin. The Potter twins had reason to believe before now that this umbrella was not all it looked; in fact, they had the strong impression that Hagrid's old school wand was concealed inside it.

Technically, Hagrid wasn't supposed to use magic. He had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Briar had never found out why – any mention of the matter and Hagrid would clear his throat loudly and become mysteriously deaf until the subject was changed. It had gotten to the point where Briar had given up trying.

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them"

"That's what yer little sister said, "Said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked at Harry, his beard twitching. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeah ask me, she wouldn' say no ter a signed…"

"Oh, shut up," said Harry, looking even more like Briar when he rolled his green eyes.

Briar snorted with laughter, but jumped back when Ron did the same since when he did the ground was sprayed with slugs.

It was nearly lunchtime and seeing as Briar had nothing to eat since dawn, she was feeling like her stomach would explode from hunger and she was keen to go back to school to eat. They said goodbye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccupping occasionally, but only bringing up two very small slugs.

They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, Potter, Weasley" Minnie was walking toward them, looking sternly at Ron and her brother. "you will both do you detentions this evening"

"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron, nervously suppressing a burp.

"You will be polishing the trophy room with Mr Filch," said Minnie. "And no magic, Weasley…elbow grease."

Ron gulped. Briar could certainly see why he had the look of distaste on his dace, Argus Filch, the caretaker, was loathed by every student in the school.

"Bad look, Ron," Briar said sympathetically, patting her brother's best friend on the shoulder "I hate cleaning the trophies, it's so boring…"

Minnie shot her a stern look, but all Briar did was grin, making Minnie sigh and mutter something under her breath. What Briar had said was true though. She had to clean the trophies an unbelievable amount of times last year for detention, how dirty can a trophy get? She swore Filch went around dirtying them every night just to give people more to do in detention.

"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," Minnie told Harry.

Briar winced. It seemed she had officially heard of a detention worse than the ones with Filch. She would rather be cleaning toilets, let alone trophies, than have to be in close proximity with Lockhart more often than she had to.

It seemed Harry felt the same way as he said desperately, "Oh n…can't I go and do the trophy room, too?"

"Certainly not," said Minnie, raising her eyebrows in a way that made Briar suspect the stern witch knew exactly how awful the detention was going to be "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you"

Harry and Ron slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom, meaning Briar's mood instantly began dropping, it was hard to be happy when your twin had such an expression on his face. She and Hermione were behind them, the later wearing a 'well-you-did-break-school-rules' sort of expression that Briar had seen to many times to count.

Briar did cheer up slightly when she was able to stuff her face with as much delicious food as Hogwarts had to offer.

After dinner, the four of them retired to the common room, Briar playing exploding snap with a still rather gloomy looking Harry as Ron and Hermione sat quietly watching them. Briar kept sneaking glances at her only female friend. Hermione was being much quieter than usual, and unlike the boys Briar couldn't see a reason why.

"Filch will have me there all night," said Ron heavily. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning"

"I'd swap anytime," said Harry hollowly, placing another card on top of the one she had placed "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys" Briar's eye twitched at the mention of it, "Answering Lockhart's fan mail…he'll be a nightmare…"

When Harry and Ron slouched out of the portrait ole to go to their detentions, dragging their feet in order to go as slow as possible, Briar decided it was time to question Hermione.

"Right, okay, 'Mione, what's wrong?" Briar sighed.

Hermione looked startled at the question, her almond shaped brown eyes looking up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she said evasively, making Briar roll her hazel eyes at the awful avoidance tactic.

"I mean that look on your face, and you have hardly spoken a word all day. Normally, you would have gone on another lecture about how Harry and Ron deserve everything they're getting and then go on a rant about how Lockhart isn't that bad, making us all scoff at the school-girl-crush you have on him" Briar explained, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't have a crush on him!" Hermione snapped, and Briar lips twitched as she tried to resist a smile.

Briar waited with a patience she didn't know she had for Hermione to continue and tell her she was wrong. She began to tap her fingers on her leg in time to a Weird Sister's song, waiting for her friend to break the silence. She was immensely relieved when 'Mione finally let out a sigh.

Briar's eyes furrowed as Hermione began to mumble, but she caught a few words such as 'Mudblood' and 'Malfoy'. Briar gritted her teeth at the mention of what the stinking Slytherin did before looking at Hermione in slight disbelief.

"You're thinking about something _Malfoy_ said to you? _Seriously_?" Briar asked incredulously.

"It's just – does being Muggleborn actually make a difference?" said Hermione, looking at her with wide yes that suggested this was one of her deep-seated fears since getting accepted into Hogwarts.

"You really have to ask? You're the brightest witch in our year" Briar said with a soft smile, pleased when Hermione returned it "and besides. Anyone can be born from a long pureblood line, me, Harry and Ron included. But to be a witch born from Muggles? Now that's special."

Hermione's eyes began to fill with tears and she launched herself at Briar, pulling her into a tight hug.

Once Hermione decided to go to bed a mischievous glint bloomed in Briar's eyes as she ruffled her messy black hair. She had an idea, and now was the perfect time to execute it seeing as Filch would be distracted with Ron's detention.

She quickly made her way up to the boys fourth year dorm, intent to recruit her boyfriend into the prank, she hadn't really seen him since he had snuck the pair of them into the three broomsticks in order to celebrate her getting onto the Quidditch team.

"Hey, Lee" Briar greeted cheerily, plopping herself down on his bed next to him, placing a small kiss on his lips.

"Hey yourself" Lee smiled, closing his transfiguration book and putting it on his bedside table. "What can I do for you?"

"Can I not just want to see my lovely boyfriend?" Briar asked, a small smirk on her lips.

Lee's chocolate eyes narrowed slightly and he slowly shook his head.

"Not when you have that expression" he told her "What's with the smirk? That smirk is never good for me"

"Well, don't you know me well?" Briar chuckled. "I actually came here to recruit you, I want to sneak into Filch's office."

Lee looked at her sceptical and she could see the wheels turning in his head before a small smirk appeared on his face too.

Not too long later she and Lee had crept through the castle, her copy of the marauder's map in her hand so as to not run into any teachers or Professors near Filch's office. They passed a portrait of Brian Gagwilde, then Circe, Greta Catchlove, Timothy the timid and finally a Wizard with a walrus moustache as they finally reached the room they were looking for.

Filch's office was connected to the entrance hall on the ground floor. It was a small, simple room with a single oil lamp handing from the ceiling. Briar wrinkled her nose as she noticed it smelt vaguely of fried fish. There were filing cabinets lining one of the walls, that Briar knew from the twins was full with the misdeeds of Hogwarts students.

Briar immediately went over to it and smiled when she noticed that she had an entire draw to herself directly next to Fred and George's own draw. She dragged her fingers across year groups and different names of particularly trouble making students before she stopped when she saw one labelled _James Potter and Sirius Black._

She pulled it open and began to rifle through the parchment inside, smiling softly. There were different pranks documented, many of them on the Slytherins, and counts of Public displays of affection from her uncle Padfoot and Aunt Marlene and she even saw a few count of it from her parents.

Finally she found what she was looking for, the total number of detentions in their full seven year. On average they had gotten 524 detentions each in their whole Hogwarts careers and Briar was intent to beat it.

"Bingo" She whispered, quickly closing the draw.

"Look at all of this" Lee's excited voice came and she turned to see him looking through another cabinet further down.

When she got closer her eyes lit up when she saw it was mark _'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'. _Briar grinned, moving to stand next to her boyfriend so that she could look through it too.

The 'highly dangerous' products mainly consisted of biting tea cups, fanged Frisbees, a multitude of dungbombs and biting tea cups as well as few glowing pink bottles of love potions. Briar shared a glance with Lee before they both began to stuff as many of the products into their pockets as they could, avoiding the ones they could tell actually were from the dark arts.

When they had gotten as many of the pranking products as they could they closed the draw with a triumphant laugh. Too caught up in grinning at their own cleverness, they didn't notice Filch come up behind them.

Briar jumped when she heard Filch's hoarse voice, whirling around with Lee, who snatched the marauder's map out of her hands in order to discretely put it in his robe pocket.

"Hehe…thought you could get in here without being caught did you? Well, you thought wrong." Filch said.

He hobbled over to his desk and pulled out two fresh detention slips. Briar shared an annoyed look with Lee and internally groaned as they moved to stand in front of Filch's desk .

"Oh, maybe headmaster will let me hand you on the wall using chains. Hehe…" Filch said as he filled out the slips.

She looked to the corner of the room where she saw some freshly oiled chained. There was seriously something wrong with this man.

Later on Lee had gone back up to the common room while Briar figured she might as well wait for her twin to get out of detention. When Harry finally did exit Lockhart's room, and he looked pale and his green eyes were slightly wild. Briar smiled grimly, she was sure she would look the same if she had spent most of the night with Lockhart.

"I have detention with Filch soon" Briar groaned as they began to make their way through the castle "Lee and I were caught breaking into Filch's office, he was downright joyous when he caught us…how bad was it with Lockhart?"

Harry looked around the hall looking for anyone who could over hear and began to tell her everything that had happened in his detention and the strange voice he heard. Briar paled as she listened to him recount the words '_Come…come to me…let me rip you…Let me tear you…let me kill you…' _the last time they had heard a voice that wasn't there was last year…

"You don't think…you don't think it's like Quirrell do you? I mean, Lockhart won't have Voldemort hiding under her wizards hat, will he?" asked Briar nervously.

"No, the voice was different and my scar wasn't hurting" Harry replied, shaking his head.

Briar sighed in relief. She frowned when she realised they now didn't have any idea what the voice was.

"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" said Briar. "Do you think he was lying? But I don't get it…even someone invisible would've had to open the door. Unless it was a ghost…" Briar mused her brows furrowed.

"I know," said Harry as they reached the common room "I don't get it either."


	20. The Death Day Party

Chapter Nineteen

_The Death Day Party_

Briar was finishing her potions homework in the common room when Fred and George entered, both wearing large, mischievous grins and Fred's robes looked bulkier than usual. Briar smiled, excited to see what trouble the twins had in mind as they made their way over to her, and put down her quill, momentarily forgetting her homework.

"Well?" Briar asked Eagerly as they plopped down next to her.

Fred pulled out a lizard-like creature that Briar instantly recognized as a fire-dwelling salamander. It had glowing fire coloured scales and shining black eyes. It looked particularly disgruntled at not being in its magical fire anymore.

Briar raised a brow, not understanding what this beast had to do with anything.

"A salamander?" she questioned.

"Yep" George grinned as though it was the best thing in the world.

"I, being the kind-hearted, innocent boy I am-" Fred started, making Briar scoff, but Fred ignored her "rescued this poor creature from Care of Magical Creatures class.

Briar smiled and shook her head fondly as she looked down at the fire-dwelling lizard.

"We want to see what will happen if you feed it a Filibuster firework" George explained and Briar grinned at the prospect, her hazel eyes sparkling.

"Well, lucky for you, Lee and I raided Filch's office the other day and happen to have tonnes of them" she told them, ruffling her hair with a smirk as she pulled a firework from her robe pocket and handed it to Fred.

Fred grinned and the three of them spent the next twenty minutes trying to convince the Salamander to eat the firework from Fred's hand and shared a high-five and a cheer of triumph when they finally managed it.

Briar grinned at their brilliance as a crowd gathered around them to watch curiously, ruffling her hair and feeling pleased with the attention she and her best friends were getting. The brilliant orange creature was now smouldering gently on the table, surrounded by the knot of people.

She let out a loud whoop as the Salamander suddenly whizzed into the air, emitting loud sparks and bangs as it whirled wildly around the room.

"YOU THREE ARE THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE I HAVE THE DISPLEASURE OF KNOWING!" Percy's voice roared as he forced himself through the crowd, puffing out his chest so that his prefects badge was more visible.

Briar and the twins shared an amused look as they all rolled their eyes in sync, trying to drown out Percy bellowing himself hoarse at them and instead focusing on the spectacular display of tangerine stars showing from the salamander's mouth as it escaped into the fire with accompanying explosions.

When Percy had finally finished screaming, Briar was happily anticipating the Halloween feast. The Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in, and there were rumours that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment. Briar couldn't wait seeing as she had missed the last Halloween feast.

However, it seemed Harry had other things in mind.

"Are you ready to go, Bambi?" Harry asked her as he, Ron and Hermione approached her in the hallway as she was charming all of Flitwick's books to float just high enough that he wouldn't be able to reach them.

Briar looked at them in confusion.

"What do you mean? The feast isn't for a while yet" she frowned.

"Well, we're going to Nearly Headless Nick's death day party" Hermione explained and Briar brows rose so high they were almost in her hair line.

"What? I didn't agree to that" Briar pointed out.

"Yes, well I did, and I'm seriously regretting the rash promise, but if I have to go, then my twin sister has to suffer with me."

Briar groaned, but judging from the determined look on Harry's face that was so identical to her own she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of it. So at seven o'clock, Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked straight past the doorway to the packed Great hall, which was glittering invitingly with gold plates and candles, and directed their steps instead towards the dungeons.

She and Ron shared a despairing look as they turned from looking longingly at the Great Hall.

"Why would anyone even want to celebrate the day they died?" grumbled Ron. "Sounds dead depressing to me…"

"Definitely" Briar agreed, a frown marring her usually mischievous face.

"At least you got to have some fun before we came with George stealing the salamander, we were made to do homework" Harry sighed, shooting a glance at Hermione, who harrumphed in annoyance.

"Actually, Harry, that was Fred" Briar corrected absently.

"How do you tell?" asked Hermione incredulously.

Briar shrugged, not entirely sure how to explain, so just said, "I just can."

The passageway leading to Nearly Headless Nick's party had been lined with candles, too, though the effect was far from cheerful: these were long, tin, jet-black tapers, all burning bright blue, casting a dim, ghostly light even over their living faces.

The temperature dropped with every step they took. She and Harry wrapped their arms around each other's waists as they shivered, trying to get warmer. Briar cringed when she heard what sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard.

"Is that supposed to be music?" Ron whispered.

They turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.

"My dear friends," he said mournfully "Welcome, welcome…so pleased you could come…" he swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside.

It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles.

Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer.

"Is it me, or do you imagine this looks like a fancier version of Snivillus' quarters" Briar whispered, making Harry and Ron snort in laughter and Hermione look at her disapprovingly, but she could see her lips twitching as she resisted a smile.

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry suggested and Briar nodded, the two of them still huddling together for warmth.

"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Ron nervously, as they set off around the edge of the dance floor.

They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Briar wasn't surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the other ghosts.

"Oh, no," said Hermione, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back"

Briar followed her friend's gaze to see the squat ghost of a girl. She had a glum face, half-hidden behind lank hair and thick, pearly spectacles.

"Merlin, it's Moaning Myrtle, do as she says" Briar hissed urgently.

She had met the ghost sometime last year and she can honestly say she hoped that she never had to go through that encounter again. It ended with Moaning Myrtle screeching about bullies and submerging into her toilet with such harshness that she flooded the bathroom and Briar had to spend the next three ours cleaning it under the watchful gaze of Filch.

"Who?" said Harry as they backtracked quickly.

"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," said Hermione.

"She haunts a toilet?"

"Yes. It's been out-of-order all of this year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place, she's bloody awful" Briar told the boys, glancing over at the temperamental ghost in distaste.

"I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it," Hermione said, nodding in agreement to Briar's words, "It's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you-"

"Look, food!" said Ron.

Briar whirled around instantly, her stomach had already started rumbling since they weren't going to the feast. On the other side of the dungeon was a long table, also covered in black velvet. The four of them approached it eagerly, but next moment had stopped in their tracks, horrified.

The smell was disgusting. Large, rotten fish were laid on handsome silver platters; cakes, burned charcoal-black, were heaped on salvers; there was a great maggoty haggis, a slab of cheese covered in furry green mould and, in pride of place, an enormous grey cake in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words: _Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died 31__st__ October, 1492._

"No, why would they do that?" Brair moaned, holding on to her stomach as it twisted in disgust, as Ron nodded in agreement, looking at the ruined food with disappointed eyes.

Briar frowned as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low, and walked through it, his mouth held wide so that it passed through one of the stinking salmon.

"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" Harry asked him.

"Almost," said the ghost sadly, and he drifted away.

"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavour," said Hermione knowledgeably, pinching her nose and leaning closer to look at the putrid haggis.

Briar heaved slightly as the maggots twisted their way around the disgust meat.

"Can we move? I feel sick," said Ron, looking green, and Briar nodded in agreement as she covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from hurling.

They had barely turned around, however, when a little man swooped suddenly from under the table and came to a halt mid-air before them.

"Hello, Peeves," said Briar with a grin as the others looked at him cautiously.

Unlike the ghosts around them, Peeve the Poltergeist was the very reverse of pale and transparent. He was wearing a bright orange party hat, a revolving bow tie, and a broad grin on his wide, wicked face.

"Nibbles?" he said sweetly, and Briar heaved slightly again when he offered them a bowl of peanuts covered in fungus.

"No thanks," said Hermione.

"Heard you were talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeve, his eyes dancing. "Rude you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OY! MYRTLE!"

Briar eyes widened in shock as she signalled to stop it. Peeves occasionally helped her and the twins out with pranks and respected them enough as feel troublemakers not to pick on them as much as the others, but that doesn't mean the Poltergeist will hold back if an opportunity arises.

"Oh, no, Peeves, don't tell her what we said, she'll be really upset, we didn't mean it." Hermione whispered frantically.

"Who cares if she gets upset? It's us I'm worried about, I mean – err, hello, Myrtle" Briar said, forcing a smile when the squat ghost glided over.

"What?" she said sulkily, although her tone rarely differed from that anyway.

"How are you, Myrtle?" said Hermione in a falsely bright voice "It's nice to see you out of the toilet"

Myrtle sniffed.

"Miss Potter and Miss Granger were just talking about you-" said Peeves in Myrtle's ear.

"Just saying – saying – how nice you look tonight," said Hermione as the two girls glared at Peeves in intense annoyance.

Myrtle eyes Briar and Hermione suspiciously.

"You're making fun of me," she said, silver tears welling rapidly in her small, see-through eyes.

"No, really, it's just so lovely to see you out in the open." Briar said in a flattering voice, before firming her tone and elbowing Harry and Ron painfully in the ribs "Weren't we just saying that?"

"Oh, Yeah-"

"They did-"

"Don't lie to me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face,, while Peeve chuckled happily over her shoulder. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"

"Well, they're not wrong" Briar muttered.

Moaning Myrtle clearly heard her as she burst into anguished sobs and fled from the dungeon. Peeves shot after her, yelling mean words, and pelting her with mouldy peanuts.

"Oh, dear" said Hermione sadly, before looking sternly at Briar and hitting her painfully on the arm "this is your fault"

"What? You're the one who lied to her first" Briar pointed out, rubbing her now sore arm.

"Yes, but you made it worse" Hermione told her with a disproving look, clearly she had heard what Briar had muttered too.

Nearly Headless Nick now drifted toward them through the crowd.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

"Oh, yes," they lied with equally false smiled.

"Not a bad turnout," said Nearly Headless Nick proudly. "The Wailing Widow came all the way up from Kent…it's nearly time for my speech, I'd better go and warn the orchestra…"

The orchestra, however, stopped playing at that very moment. They, and everyone else in the dungeon, fell silent, looking around in excitement, as a hunting horn sounded.

"Oh, here we go," said Nearly Headless Nick bitterly.

Through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost horses, each ridden by a headless horseman. The assembly clapped wildly. Briar started to clap to, but Harry stopped her, gesturing to the look on Nick's face.

The horses galloped into the middle of the dance floor and halted, rearing and plunging. At the front of the pack was a large ghost who held his bearded head under his arm, from which position he was blowing the horn.

The ghost leap down, lifted his head high in the air so he could see over the crowd (everyone laughed), and strode over to Nearly Headless Nick, squashing his head back onto his neck.

"Nick!" he roared. "How are you? Head still hanging in there?"

He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nearly Headless Nick on the shoulder.

"Welcome, Patrick," said Nick stiffly.

"Live 'uns!" said Sir Patrick, spotting Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione and giving a huge, fake jump of astonishment, so that his head feel off again (the crowd howled with laughter).

"Very amusing," said Nearly Headless Nick darkly.

"Don't mid Nick!" shouted Sir Patrick's head from the floor. "Still upset we won't let him join the Hunt! But I mean to say – look at the fellow-"

"I think," said Harry hurriedly at a meaningful look from Nick "Nick's very frightening and – err -"

Briar sighed at her twin's lack of lying skills. You would think that seeing as he was the son of the king of the marauders and god son to the infamous Sirius Black, that he would be a bit better at making something up on the spot.

"Ha!" yelled Sir Patrick's head. "Bet asked you say that!"

"If I could have everyone's attention, it's time for my speech!" said Nearly Headless Nick loudly, striding toward the podium and climbing into an icy blue spotlight. "My later lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen, it is my great sorrow…"

But nobody heard much more.

Sir Patrick and the rest of the Headless Hunt had just started a fame of Head Hockey and the crowd were turning to watch. Nearly Headless Nick tried vainly to recapture his audience, but gave up as Sir Patrick's head went sailing past him to loud cheers.

Briar was starving by now and extremely cold. Even huddling next to her brother didn't stop her body from shivering and teeth chattering.

"I can't stand much more of this," Ron mutter, his own teeth chattering, as the orchestra ground back into action and the ghosts swept back onto the dance floor.

"Let's go," Harry agreed.

They backed toward the door, nodding and beaming at anyone who looked at them, and a minute later they were hurrying back up the passageway full of black candles.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the entrance hall.

Briar so busy imagining all the food that she would get when she dragged Lee to the kitchens later on that she barely noticed that Harry had stumbled to a halt. When she did she turned with a confused frown when she saw her twin clutching at the stone wall, listening and looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.

Briar looked around too, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Harry, what're you-?" she started to ask, but he cut her off.

"It's that voice again – shut up a minute-"

Briar listened as hard as she could but she could hear anything other than the faint sound of the scratching music from Nearly Headless Nick's party. She shared a look with Ron and Hermione, they seemed to not be hearing anything either.

Harry suddenly pulled away from the wall and looked upward, a mixture of fear and excitement on his face as he stared at the dark ceiling.

"This way," he shouted and he began to run up the stairs and into the entrance hall.

Briar frowned, still not having heard anything, but she, Ron and Hermione hurriedly followed Harry anyway. She attempted to listen again, but now all she could hear was the babble of talk from the Halloween feast echoing out of the Great hall.

Harry was now sprinting up the marble staircase to the first floor and Briar, Ron and Hermione clattered after him.

"Harry, what're we-"

"SHH!"

"It's going to kill someone!" Harry shouted.

Briar stared at her brother in bewilderment. Had he gone mad? Harry ran up the next flight of stars three at a time so that Briar and the others had to scurry after him as fast as they could. Briar, Ron and Hermione hurtled after Harry around the whole of the second floor, before they finally stopped, panting, at a deserted passage.

"Harry, what was all that about?" said Ron, wiping sweat of his face.

"Yeah" Briar nodded, clutching a stitch in her side "I didn't hear a thing"

But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.

"Look!"

Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches:

_The Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware._

Briar looked at the words, biting her lip. The Chamber of Secret? It sounded vaguely familiar. She could vaguely recall her uncle Moony telling her the horror story one Halloween, but she just couldn't place what it was about.

"What's that thing – hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice.

As they edge nearer, Briar had to steady as he almost slipped – there was a large puddle of water on the floor. They inched toward the message, eyes fixed upon a dark shadow beneath it. All four of them realized what it was at once, and let backward with a splash…Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.

For a few seconds, they didn't move.

"We shouldn't be here" Briar said finally.

"Let's get out of here" Ron added in agreement.

"Shouldn't we try and help-" Harry began awkwardly.

"Trust us," said Ron, gesturing to himself and Briar, who was nodding and already backing away, "we don't want to be found here"

But it was too late. A rumble, as though of distant thunder, told them that the feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment students were crashing into the passage from both ends.

The chatter, the bustle, the nose died suddenly as the people in front spotted the handing cat.

Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the grisly sight.

Then someone shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the heir beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Briar glared in the direction of the voice, and of course it was none other than Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.


	21. The Writing on the Wall

Chapter Twenty

_The Writing on the Wall_

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd.

The old caretaker then saw Mrs Norris and he fell back, clutching his face in horror.

"My cat! Mr cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" he shrieked and his popping eyes fell on Harry, who was standing just a touch closer to the hanging cat than her, Ron and Hermione "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"

"Argus!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Briar, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ad detached Mrs Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch "You, too, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Potter, Miss Granger"

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free-"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore, so did Minnie and Snivillus.

As they entered Lockhart's darkened office, there was a flurry of movement across the walls; Briar snickered quietly when she saw that several of the Lockharts in the pictures were dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her.

Briar exchanged a tense look with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they sank into the chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching.

The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs Norris' fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Minnie was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snivillus loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: it was as though he was trying hard not to smile. And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her – probably the Transmogrifian Torture – I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter curse that would have saved her…"

Lockhart's comments her punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs Norris, his face in his hands. Much as she detested Filch she couldn't help but feel sorry for the horrid old git, if something like this happened to Onyx she'd probably be in tears too.

Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs Norris with his wand, but nothing happened: she continued to look as though she has been recently stuffed.

"…I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou," said Lockhart, "a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once…"

The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net, it seemed the pictures were as dim as the man himself.

At last Dumbledore straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs Norris. "But why's she all – all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been petrified," said Dumbledore (Briar rolled her eyes as Lockhart exclaimed, "Ah! I thought so!") "But how, I cannot say…"

"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to her brother.

"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly "it would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"

"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his face purpling "you saw what he wrote on the wall! He found – in my office – he knows I'm a – I'm a-" Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a squib!" he finished.

Briar's brows rose in surprise. She had never known that. However, now that she thought about it, it made a lot of sense. She had never seen him do magic and she knew he hated it when other people do.

"I never touched Mrs Norris!" Harry burst out loudly, everyone turning to look at him "And I don't even know what a squib is."

"Rubbish!" snarled Filch, "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"Sod off, you miserable, old git!" Briar shouted when she saw the expression on Harry's face and put a comforting hand on her twin's shoulder.

"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snivillus from the shadows and she saw Harry pale, she could see why, she was sure nothing Snivillus had to say was going to do any good.

"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it "but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"

Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the Death Day party, "…there were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there-"

"But why not joint the feast afterward?" said Snivillus, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight "why go up that corridor?"

Briar's hazel eyes narrowed and his upper lip pulled up in a snarl. She was starting to get extremely annoyed at the greasy old professor. She knew he was only doing this because he was hoping to get his old enemies children kicked out of Hogwarts.

"You know what, Snivillus-?" Briar started meanly.

"Miss Potter!" Minnie snapped, making her quieten, but continued to glare at Snivillus with gritted teeth, who was glaring back, his fingers twitching.

"Well?" Snivillus asked with a sneer in Briar's direction.

"Because – because – " Harry said, "because we were tired and wanted to go to bed"

"Without any supper?" said Snivillus and Briar longed for nothing more than to hex the triumphant smile from his ugly gaunt face "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties"

"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly, but his stomach chose that moment to give a huge rumble.

Snivillus' nasty smile widened.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he said "It might be a good idea if he and Miss Potter were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he and Miss Potter should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until they are ready to be honest"

Briar glared at him angrily. She was now certain he was just trying to live out some vendetta against them, she didn't hear anywhere about a punishment for Ron or Hermione.

"Really, Severus," said Minnie sharply "I see no reason to stop them playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that the four of them have done anything wrong"

Dumbledore was giving the four of them a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made her feel as though he was reading her every thought.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.

Filch looked furious. So did Snivillus, even more so when Briar shot him a smirk, her hazel eyes shining meanly.

"My cat has been petrified!" Filch shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs Norris"

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-"

"Excuse me," said Snivillus icily "but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school"

There was a very awkward pause, but Briar broke it with a bubble of laughter escaping her lips, making the others turn to her.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Brair, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

They went as quickly as they could without actually running. When they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them.

"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I head?" Harry asked, squinting at their faces through the darkness.

"No," said Ron without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world"

"You do believe me, don't you?" Harry asked and Briar couldn't blame him, she had also heard the small undertone of doubt in Ron's voice.

"Of course we do, Harry" Briar cut in. "It's just, what would they have done if you told them you followed a strange voice to the scene of the crime? They'd have you checked into St Mungos"

Ron nodded quickly in agreement.

"You must admit it's weird…" he added.

"I know it's weird," said Harry. "the whole things weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber had been opened…what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once…might've been Bill…"

"Yeah, same here." Briar nodded in agreement, her brows pinched together as she desperately tried to remember "it was a horror story of some sort, but I just can't…." She shook her head.

"And what on earth's a squib?" said Harry.

Briar shared a glance with Ron and they both stifled a snigger.

"Well – it's not funny really -" Ron started.

"It is when it's Filch, if anyone deserve it it's him" Briar cut in and she and Ron sniggered slightly again.

"-but as Filch said," Ron continued "a squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of a muggle-born wizard, but squibs are quite unusual. If Filch is trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a squib."

"It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much. He's bitter" said Briar with a satisfied smile, she hoped the old git was suffering.

A clock chimed somewhere.

"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better go get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else"

"I wouldn't put it past him. Stupid Snivillus, he needs to keep his greasy nose out of people's business" Briar grumbled as they made their way up to the common room.

When they finally got up to Gryffindor tower, Briar ascended the boys staircase with Harry and Ron rather than the girls' with Hermione, knowing Lee and the twins were probably staying up waiting for an explanation.

Sure enough, when she entered the fourth year boys' dorm, the three of them were sitting awake on their beds, talking, but fell quiet when she walked in.

"That was awful" Briar moaned.

She moved to sit next to Lee, who automatically put his arm around her. She looked up at her boyfriend with a smile, missing the small narrowing of Fred's blue eyes.

"What happened?" George asked hurriedly, gaining her attention. "There's been all types of rumours"

"Yeah, people are saying Harry's killed Mrs Norris. Merlin, I hope that's true" Fred added with a small smirk that Briar couldn't help but return.

She then began to explain to them about the Death Day party and how they stumbled upon the writing on the wall and the petrified Mrs Norris, (she left out the part about Harry hearing voices) and how Snivillus was trying desperately to blame them.

"Wow." Fred and George breathed.

"It's always you four isn't it?" Lee said, looking down on her fondly.

Briar cracked a smile and shoved him slightly, before lying back so that she could sleep in Lee's bed. She turned as Lee lay down to so that he could snuggle up to her back, but frowned when she saw Lee's tarantula in the cage next to his bed. The spider was pressed right up against the bars of the cage, as though desperately trying to escape it.

"Lee, what's up with your tarantula?" Briar asked in confusion.

Lee looked over her shoulder and frowned as he studied his pet.

"I don't know. It's never done that before" Lee told her and Briar continued to stare at the pet feeling as though she was missing something before her eyes finally dropped closed and she fell asleep.

For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back.

On their way to Astronomy, Briar and Harry had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone.

When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corrdors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like 'Breathing to loudly' and 'looking Happy'. Briar had gotten twelve of those already, her draw in Filch's office rapidly filling with documents of how she got detention for 'dropping her quill to loudly in the hallway'.

Ginny seemed to be very disturbed by Mrs Norris' fate.

"What's up, Gin?" Briar asked with a grin as she sat down next to her in the common room.

"It's Mrs Norris. Ron didn't make it any better, going on about how he wants Filch to be petrified…" the younger girl whimpered, her lip trembling.

Briar frowned, not quite understand what was wrong with her. She knew Ginny like cat's but almost crying over Mrs Norris was a bit extreme.

"Ginny, what's really bothering you?" Briar pressed.

Ginny looked up at her with wide brown eyes before she burst into tears, clutching the strange black leather diary to her chest, and running off up to the dorms before Briar could even call after her. This whole school year was getting more and more confusing, although she was sure anything could beat last her, she could still remember the agonizing pain of the cruciatus vividly.

The attack also had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else and she wouldn't tell Briar, Harry or Ron what she was up to.

It wasn't until Wednesday when the three of them actually found out.

Briar was lounging in the library as Lee did his homework, feeling extremely bored, he was lucky he was her boyfriend or she would have gotten them kicked out by now. Suddenly she jumped slightly when a roll of toilet paper was slammed down in front of her and Lee. Looking up with startled eyes, she was met by a grinning Fred and George sitting down in front of the two of them.

"Why are you giving us toilet paper?" Lee asked, looking up from his Care of Magical creature homework to shoot the twins a questioning look.

Fred and George hared a glance before sighing, as though disappointed with the fact that she and Lee didn't know already.

"Because-" George started in a voice that said it should be obvious.

"-We helped Peeves steal all the toilet paper in the castle" Fred finished.

"Why?" Briar asked with snort of amusement.

Fred and George shared another glance before turning to her and Lee with a shrug.

"We were bored" her two best friends said simultaneously.

Briar laughed, shaking her head fondly and Lee chuckled, turning back to his homework. She looked at her boyfriend with pursed lips, feeling a small twinge of annoyance that he was _actually _doing his homework.

She grabbed the feathered quill from Lee's hand, making her look up at her in confusion, but as soon as he glanced up she pressed her lips to his. She felt that familiar jolt in her stomach as his lips moved against hers, one of his hands moving up to tangle in her mass of black hair.

A sound of disgust made them pull apart and looked at Fred questioningly, who actually seemed surprised at himself for the sound, the tips of his ears turning red. Briar rolled her eyes a decided o just add Fred's behaviour to the growing list of strange things happening this year. Maybe she would right her Uncle Moony about it.

"Is that Care of Magical Creatures homework?" George suddenly blurted, looking at Lee's parchment and distracting Briar from looking at Fred weirdly as he avoided her eyes.

George's words seemed to finally capture Fred's attention.

"We had homework, Merlin's pants!" Fred exclaimed and the twins scrambled to pull their text books, parchment, quill and ink from their bags.

"And that's my cue to leave" Briar said, placing a kiss on Lee's cheek, she was feeling rather put out that all her friends were spending their time to do homework.

The three boys waved dismissively as they focused on scribbling down answered and Briar sighed, walking over to wear Harry had just sat down next to Ron.

When she plopped down next to the pair she noticed that Ron was measuring his History of magic homework that Briar had finished a few days ago. Professor Binns had asked for a three foot long compositions on '_the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards'._

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short…" said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll. "and Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny"

"Well, she's Hermione" Briar said, feeling that explained everything, and Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Where is she, anyway?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework.

"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

Harry then began to tell her and Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him in the hallway.

"Dunno why you care." Said Ron scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible.

"Yeah, I thought he was a bit of an idiot to be honest. Sprouting all that rubbish about Lockhart being so great" Briar said with a careless shrug.

Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them.

"All copies of Hogwarts, A history have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to her, Harry and Ron. "And there's a two week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

"Why do you even want it?" Briar asked "the books a snore"

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets"

"What's that?" said Harry and Briar simultaneously, Briar was seriously hoping Hermione knew, because the fact that she couldn't remember was really irritating her, she normally remembered everything.

"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip, and Briar let out a disappointed sigh. "And I can't find the story anywhere else-"

"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.

"No, I won't." said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it-"

"Here, you can borrow mine" Briar said, pulling out her essay to hand to Ron.

Ron's eyes lit up gratefully, but it quickly turned to a glare as Hermione snatched the essay from Briar before he could take it.

"No, you're not helping him cheat" Hermione snapped, shoving Briar's essay into her own bag.

"I only need another two inches, come on-" Ron protested.

The bell rang.

Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering. History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule, the only lesson she hated more than it was Herbology and that's because she was abysmal at it. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the only good thing about his classes was that she could catch up on her sleep.

Ancient and shrivelled, many people said Binns hadn't noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach on day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since.

Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone until nearly everyone was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again.

Briar had her chin propped on her hands, her eyes drooping as she was just about to fall asleep when she was suddenly snapped awake when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.

Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.

"Miss – err -?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice, making Briar's brows rise in surprise.

Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk.

Professor Binns blinked.

"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers…"

He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.

"Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement that Briar was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale-"

But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns' every word, Brair included. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Briar could tell her was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.

"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see…the Chamber of Secrets…you all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are names after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school"

Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But there honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a bidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic"

There was a silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns' classes. There was more unease in the air as everyone continued to watching him, hoping for more.

Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.

"the whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible"

Briar decided she must be gullible then, because she could easily picture the chamber being real, only to opened by the heir and now it was. But what monster was inside the chamber? She was missing something, she knew she was, but what was it?

Hermione's hand was back in the air.

"Sir – what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the hair of Slytherin alone could control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.

Briar shared a nervous look with Harry before looking down at her desk with a frown. What was she missing? She could feel it niggling at the back of her mind. Something that linked the monster to the strange things she had noticed, something that linked Slytherin to it all. But what?

The cogs in her mind were turning furiously but is felt as though she was staring at a muggle jigsaw that had half the piece missing.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes "there is no chamber and no monster"

"But, sir," said Seamus Finnigan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true hair, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing-"

"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it-"

"Just because a wizard doesn't us Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore-"

"But you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't-" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.

"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"

And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Briar, Harry and Hermione as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. "but I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. honestly, if the sorting hat tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd have got the train straight back home…"

Hermione and Briar nodded fervently.

Briar glanced at Harry from the corner of her eyes. She knew that the sorting hat had in fact tried to put him in Slytherin, he had confided that in her, but Hermione and Ron knew nothing of it.

"What I don't understand," Briar cut in, changing the subject on behalf of her twin "is that the Slytherin line supposedly died out. I mean, all the pureblood families are related somehow, but there hasn't been any sign of the direct line in about seventy years or so…"

The others frowned in thought at that.

As they were shunted along in the throng, Colin Creevey went past.

"Hiya, Harry!"

"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically.

"Harry – Harry – a boy in my class has been saying you're-" but Colin was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people baring him toward the Great Hall; they heard him squeak, "See you, Harry!" and he was gone.

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Harry with a forlorn expression.

Briar nodded slowly. It would certainly explain the reason Justin Finch-Fletchley had run away from earlier, he had told them he was a muggle-born.

"People here'll believe anything," said Ron in disgust.

The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the next staircase without difficulty.

"I know" Briar said, glaring angrily at a few people who were giving Harry funny looks "everyone knows the Potter's have been in Gryffindor for generations and our mum was a muggleborn so it's not like it could come from her side"

"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I don't know," she said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be – well – human"

Briar frowned.

"Not human…I'm missing something…monster…creature…" Briar muttered musingly her eyes lighting up as a sudden idea hit her. "I've got to go. See you later!" Briar called hurriedly and began to push her way through the crowds again.

She was walking so fast that she was bordering on running and had reached the Gryffindor common room in no time, when she did she hastily ran up to her dorm and began to root through all the books in her trunk, looking for one book in particular.

She frowned when she didn't find it and began to throw things out of her trunk in frustration. She sighed in annoyance when she still hadn't found it and all her belongings were emptied out on her bed.

Briar decided to go into the first year girls dorms and look through Ginny's trunk. She had given the younger girl some of her things so that the Weasleys didn't have to buy them, so it would make sense for her to have accidentally given it to Ginny.

She found the book in Ginny's trunk in a matter of second. It was the old book on Magical Creatures she had gotten from Hagrid for her birthday. Briar flipped through it hurried, trying to find something that stood out. She paused when she came to a few rips near the end of the book, several of the pages had been torn out. She frowned, she was almost certain the book hadn't been like that while she was at the Weasleys.

Briar sighed at the lack of success she found in the book, before she noticed Ginny's black leather diary.

She grabbed it and began flipping through it, hoping to see if it mentioned any of the girls sketchy behaviour as of late or anything updating her on her crush on Harry. However, when she opened the diary she found something even stranger than the torn pages in the other book. All the pages were blank.

That didn't make any sense. She had seen Ginny carrying it everywhere with her, had seen her scribbling in it out of the corners of her eyes as she talked to the twins or Lee in the common room.

"What am I missing?" Briar groaned in annoyance, throwing the diary carelessly back into Ginny's trunk.

That night Briar was sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had chosen seats as far away as possible from Percy from some reason, and she was quieter than usual, getting more and more annoyed with that tickling at the back of her brain telling her that she should know what's going on.

Ron was also in a very bad temper and kept blotting his charms homework. When he reached absently for his wand to remove the smudges, it ignited the parchment. Fuming almost as much his homework, Ron slammed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut.

Briar shared a surprised look with Harry when Hermione followed suit.

"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having. "Who'd want to frighten all the squibs and muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "who do we know who thinks muggle-borns are scum?"

Ron looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced.

"If you're talking about Malfoy-"

"Of course I am!" said Ron "you heard him – 'you'll be next Mudbloods!' – come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him-"

Briar frowned. She thought that Malfoy would probably be bragging a lot more if he was the heir of Slytherin, but then she supposed that the guess was as good as any. The Malfoys have always been in Slytherin and supported Voldemort.

"Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione sceptically.

"Look at his family," said Harry as he and Briar closed their books too.

"The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it" Briar continued for Harry.

"They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough" Harry finished with a nod.

"They could've have the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron "handing it down, father to son…"

Briar frowned, something about the word 'key' didn't sit right with her. If it had to be Slytherin's heir, how would a key insure that? It could easily be stolen. It would have to be something only Slytherin and his heir would have, but what? She was missing something! It was all right in front of her, she felt like she was just going in circles.

"Well," said Hermione cautiously, "I suppose it's possible…"

"But how do we prove it?" said Harry darkly.

"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice still further with a quick glance across the room at Percy. "Of course it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect-"

To be frank, everything, Hermione was saying was just making the unknown idea more and more appealing to Briar's troublemaking brain.

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.

"All right," said Hermione coldly. "what we'd need to do is get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us"

"But that's impossible," Harry said as Ron laughed.

"We could use the invisibility cloak" Briar pointed out, making the boys frown in thought.

"No, that's not what I meant," said Hermione "all we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion"

Briar's brows rose in shock. Hermione was talking about brewing an extremely difficult potion, taking it and pretending to be someone else to sneak in the Slytherin common room. A smirk appeared on her face as she ruffled her hair…she definitely liked this plan.

"What's that?" said Ron and Harry together making Briar roll her hazel eyes.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago-"

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron, making Briar and Harry share an amused look.

"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the common room right now, if only we could hear him" Hermione said with a look of excitement.

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins forever?"

"Well, it's lucky for us that it wears off after a while, isn't it?" Briar said, shuddering at the very thought of being stuck as a Slytherin.

"Getting a hold of the recipe will be very difficult." Hermione said, "Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's bound to be in the Restricted section of the library"

Briar frowned again. There was only one way to get a book from the Restricted Section: you needed a signed note of permission from a teacher.

"It's hard to come with an excuse as to why we would want the book, none of the teachers would go for it, definitely not for me of all people" Briar said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, not if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions" Ron nodded in agreement.

"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance…"

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that, said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick…"

Briar's head snapped up sharply, her hazel eyes meeting her twins green ones, both of them seeming to come to the same conclusion at the same time. They did know a Professor that could sign the permission slip and boy was he thick…


	22. The Rogue Bludger

Chapter Twenty One

_The Rogue Bludger_

Since Briar and the twins had pulled the prank with the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes re-enacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Harry to help with these reconstructions; so far, Harry had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager who Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him.

Despite the fact that it often put Harry in an irritable mood, Briar found the lessons highly entertaining.

During their very next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Briar was hauled to the front of the class with Harry. This time Harry would be playing a werewolf, while Briar was playing the terrified victim.

"Nice loud, howl, Harry" Lockhart told her brother.

Harry grit his teeth but tipped his head back and let out a terrible howl, it sounded like a cat under a tickling charm. She Briar bit back her laugh, imagining her uncle Moony's reaction to this. He'd probably be torn between offence and amusement.

"Right, now, Briar, act scared" Lockhart said.

Briar took a deep breath and they donned an utter look of terror, screaming "Help! Help! A Werewolf is going to get me! if only there was a dim-witted wizard around to help me!" she then put her hand to her forehead and pretended to faint from fear.

The class let out a huge laugh and even Harry's lips twitched. Professor Lockhart frowned but must have decided to pass over it.

"And then, if you believe it, I pounced – like this – slammed him to the floor- thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down – with my other, I put my wand to his throat – I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm – he let out a piteous moan – go one, Harry – higher than that – good – the fur vanished – the fangs shrank – and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective – and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks"

As she and Harry clambered to their feet and returned to their seats, Briar rolled her eyes. She had been with her Uncle Moony at his 'time of the month' and Lockhart would not have been able to overpower him. If she, as a large doe, couldn't manage (and she had the scar on her stomach and arm to prove it) it then a human certainly couldn't.

The bell rang as Lockhart got to his feet.

"Homework – compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!"

Briar sighed in annoyance. A poem? Really? There was something seriously wrong with that man. She was sure if they continued to get DADA professor's like him she would never learn anything ever.

The class began to leave, but Briar, Harry, Ron and Hermione waited at the back of the room.

"Ready?" Harry muttered.

"Wait 'til everyone's gone," said Hermione nervously. "All right…"

She approached Lockhart's desk, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, Briar, Harry and Ron right behind her.

"Err – Professor Lockhart?" Hermione stammered. "I wanted to – to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading." She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. "But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it – I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow-acting venoms"

"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls!" said Lockhart, taking the note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. "Possibly my very favourite book. You enjoyed it?"

"Oh, yes," said Hermione eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer-"

"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," said Lockhart warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock quill. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, misreading the revolted look on Briar's, Harry's, and Ron's faces. "I usually save it for book-signings"

He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note and handed it back to Hermione.

"So, Harry," said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag. "Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to dedicate my life to eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if I ever feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players…"

Briar and Harry both made an indistinct noise in their throats and shared a disbelieving look. They hurried off after Ron and Hermione, eager to leave Lockhart.

"I don't believe it," Harry said as the three of them examine the signature on the note. "He didn't even look at the book we wanted"

"That's because he's a brainless git that will sign anything that is put in front of him" Briar said, rolling her eyes.

"But who cares," added Ron, "we've got what we needed-"

"He is not a brainless git," said Hermione shrilly as they half Ran toward the library.

"Hermione, he thinks he's better at Quidditch than Harry, there's clearly something wrong with him" Briar protested.

"Just because he said you were the best student of the year-" began Ron.

They dropped their voices as they entered the muffled stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an underfed vulture.

"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated suspiciously, trying to take the note from Hermione, but Hermione wouldn't let go.

"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said breathlessly making Briar and Harry share a vaguely irritated look.

"Oh, come on," said Ron, wrenching it from her grasp and thrusting it at Madam Pince. "We'll get you another autograph. Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough"

Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though determined to detect forgery, but it passed the test. She stalked away between the loft shelves and returned several minutes later carrying a large and mouldy-looking book. Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty.

Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's out-of- order bathroom once again. Hermione had overridden Ron's objections by pointing out that it was the last place anyone in their right minds would go, so they were guaranteed some privacy. Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her stall, but they were ignoring her, and she them.

Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully, and the four of them bent over the damp-spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head.

"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly as she found the page headed The Polyjuice Potion.

It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Briar and Harry shared a worried glance, sincerely hoping the artist had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces.

"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione and Briar nodded in agreement, feeling rather overwhelmed as she scanned the recipe "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the long list of ingredients. "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store cupboard, we can help ourselves…oooh, look, powdered horn or a bicorn – don't know where we're going to get that – shredded skin of a boomslang – that'll be tricky, too, and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into"

"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it-"

"Yeah" Briar added, feeling slightly nauseous. "I'm all for breaking the rules, but I'd rather not drink something in any way related to Pugface Parkinson."

Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard them.

"We don't have to worry about that yet though, because we add those bits last…"

Briar shared a shocked and disgusted look with Ron, not at all liking the idea of consuming a potion with bits of Slytherin in it. It would probably taste worse than that time when George dared her to eat a mouthful of Bertie Botts Every Flavour beans at once.

"D'you realise how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea…" Harry said worriedly, glancing over the book in Hermione's arms.

Hermione shut the book with a snap.

"I can probably ask my Uncle Moony for the powdered horn of bicorn if I tell him it's for a prank" Briar put in.

"Good, that's one less thing we need to worry about" Hermione said before she turned to Harry and Ron with bright pinks patches on her cheeks and her brown eyes brighter than usual. "If you two are going to chicken out, fine. I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But I you don't want to find out it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in-"

"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, okay?"

"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Briar as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again.

"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have to be stewed for twenty-one days and it will take a couple of days for Briar's godfather to send the powdered horn of bicorn if she send the letter straight away…I'd say it's be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."

"A month?" said Ron. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!"

"I know" Briar sighed, glancing at Hermione worriedly "but I's the best plan we've got short of storming up to Malfoy and demand him to tell us if he's the heir"

"I suppose. Full steam ahead then I guess" Ron said, but by the way he glanced at Hermione she had the feeling he only did it to appease their bushy haired friend.

Her feeling was confirmed a second later.

While Hermione was checking that the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to her and Harry, "It'll be a lot less hassle if one of you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow"

As soon as they exited the bathroom Briar hurriedly went up to the owlery to write a letter to her Uncle Moony.

_To Uncle Moony,_

_I made the Gryffindor Quidditch team! _

_Fred, George and I played a prank on Lockhart to celebrate. In my first DADA lesson with him he let Cornish Pixies loose on the class and couldn't get rid of them, it was a nightmare! He made, me, Harry, Ron and Hermione get rid of them. So we let pixies loose in his office that Fred and George charmed them to only attack him, it was brilliant! I think even Snivillus enjoyed it. _

_Don't worry, Lee's being the perfect gentleman…well as gentlemanly as a prankster can be. Although, speaking of Lee, his tarantula is acting weird lately._

_Weird things have been happening at Hogwarts again this year and I just can't put all the pieces together, it's really annoying me. _

_Anyway, I wanted to ask you about Fred. He's been acting really strange lately. He's been looking at me weirdly, blushing and he keeps acting really strange when I'm with Lee. Do you know what could be wrong with him?_

_Love Bambi xxx_

_P.S. Would you be able to send me some Powdered horn of bicorn? I think I need it for a prank. _

Briar whistled and held out her arm so that Onyx could fly down from her spot with Hedwig and the Hogwarts owls to perch on her arm.

She smiled when Onyx nipped her fingers affectionately and stroked her black feathers softly.

"Take this to Uncle Moony" Briar said, handing Onyx the letter.

Her owl hooted once, before taking off out of the window, her letter clasped in her sharp beak.

Briar woke early on Saturday morning and hopped to her feet to got to the bathroom immediately, excited that soon she would be playing in her first Quidditch match. She met Fred and George in the common room and they made their way down to the Great Hall together. When they got there is was to see the red of the Gryffindor team huddled at the end of the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much.

Briar shared a glance with the twins.

"What's up with you lot?" Fred asked as the they sat down, Briar opposite him and George next to Harry.

"We're about to go up against the fastest racing brooms gold can buy" Harry replied forlornly and the rest of the team grunted in agreement.

"Do you people have no faith?" George faux gasped.

"Yeah, they may have faster broom, but come on, our team is way better. What sort of team could it be when the seeker is only on the team because of his rich daddy?" Briar asked, rolling her hazel eyes.

The rest of the team didn't seem to be thinking on the same lines as her and the twins, not cheering up at all at their words. Briar shared a shrug with the twins before she began to pile food on her plate to eat.

As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. It wasn't the best Quidditch conditions, but Briar didn't mind, she was just glad that she finally got to play.

Ron and Hermione came hurrying over to wish her and Harry good luck as they entered they entered the locker rooms and Lee shot her a grin, so she smirked, ruffled her hair and blew him a kiss.

Once in the locker room, the team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Oliver's usual pre-match pep talk. The one the twins gave her a run down on since they had been on the team two years now and already knew it off by heart.

"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers-"

"Too true," George muttered to her and Fred "I haven't been properly dry since August"

"-And we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team." Chest heaving with emotion, Oliver turned to Harry, "it'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a seeker had to have something more than a rich father. Get to that snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to"

"So no pressure, Harry" said Fred, winking at her twin and Briar chuckled.

Briar smirked and ruffled her hair confidently as they walked onto the pitch. A roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard too.

Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Oliver to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.

"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three…two…one…"

With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Briar flew forward and snatched the Quaffle as soon as it was released and passed to Katie before speeding up the pitch, dodging other players.

They had practiced this, Katie would speed it down the pitch, pass to Angelina, who in turn passed to her so that Briar could try to score. Briar grinned triumphantly as she through the Quaffle and the Slytherin Keeper missed it.

Slytherin was in possession now, Briar and her fellow chasers tried to keep up in order to get the Quaffle off of them, but they were unable to catch up with the superior brooms. The Slytherins scored again…and again…and again. Briar ran a hand through her hair in frustration as Montague easily snatched the Quaffle from her and sped it in the opposite direction.

"Slytherin lead, sixty points to ten" Lee's voice was booming as he commentated.

She shared and annoyed look with Angelina before the pair of them sped forward to guard the two Slytherin chasers as Katie sped after Montague and the Quaffle. Katie finally managed to get the Quaffle from the Slytherins and immediately passed it to Briar.

Briar and Angelina kept passing to each other as they sped down the field to stop the Slytherins from intercepting, but just as Angelina was about to score, a Bludger sped towards her and she dropped the Quaffle right into a Slytherins waiting arms as she swerved to avoid getting hit.

Briar only stopped flying when Madam Hooch's whistle rang out: Oliver had called for a time out. Briar, Katie and Angelina dived for the ground and rushed over to where the rest of the team was waiting.

The Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered.

"What's going on?" said Oliver. "We're being flattened."

"Yeah, we've noticed, Oliver." Briar snapped in annoyance.

"We can't keep up with those brooms. They're too fast. Every time they get the Quaffle they move fast enough to intercept" Katie said, slightly breathless.

Oliver shook his head.

"Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?" Oliver asked the twins, who looked affronted at the question.

"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," said George angrily.

"What?!" Briar exclaimed, looking over to her twin, relieved to see that other than being flushed and breathless he was otherwise okay.

"Yeah, someone's fixed it – it won't leave Harry alone. it hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it" George explained, his tone just as angry as before.

Briar grit her teeth angrily as she glared over towards where the Slytherin team were gathered. Those slimy snakes, leave it to those sneaky gits to do something like that.

"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then…" said Oliver anxiously.

Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her shoulder, Briar could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in Harry's direction. Briar glared, her hazel eyes flashing and sent an obscene gesture in their direction. They were lucky she didn't have her wand other they would barely even be able to move when she hexed them into snivelling puddles on the grassy pitch.

"Listen," said Harry as Madam Hooch came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one"

"Don't be thick," scoffed Fred and Briar nodded quickly in agreement. "It'll take your head odd."

Oliver was looking from Harry to the Weasleys.

"Oliver, don't you dare. If my twin gets hurt because of you I swear to Merlin…" Briar said warningly, pointing a threatening finger in the captain's face.

Oliver looked at Briar anxiously, but didn't look convinced.

"Briar's right. Oliver, this is insane!" Katie Bell said angrily. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry-"

"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Harry. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"

Briar shook her head, running a hand through her hair. This wasn't her usually arrogant hair ruffling, this was her 'I don't know what to do' hair ruffling. She wanted to win the Quidditch game and she certainly didn't want to lose against Slytherin of all people, but her twin meant more than that.

She would rather suffer all the Slytherins tormenting her than Harry be hurt.

"This is your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him-"

Madam Hooch had joined them.

"Ready to resume play?" she asked Oliver.

Oliver looked at the determined look on Harry's face and Briar sighed in annoyance, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry – leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."

When the rest of the team moved away to where they would mount their brooms again, Briar grabbed Fred and George by the collars of their Quidditch robes and yanked them down to her level.

"I don't care what they say. Lay off a bit, but you two watch that Bludger like Hawkes" Briar hissed to them determinately, before grabbing her broom and moving over towards where her fellow chasers were standing.

The rain was falling more heavily now.

On Madam Hooch's whistle, Briar kicked hard into the air and glanced nervously at Harry, who was already being pursued by the Bludger. Briar shot a look towards the twins to watch him carefully and they both nodded. Briar glanced at Harry, who was flying higher and higher, before giving a wince and shooting off further down the pitch where Adrian Pucey was flying with the Quaffle.

Briar pushed her broom to go as fast as she could, but the Nimbus Two Thousand and One was too fast and she was falling behind. Pucey was now trying to get past Oliver at the goal posts.

She was distracted from trying to intercept Pucey as he attempted to score for the third time when she heard a splattering thud and saw Harry hit the mud and roll off his broom. She could see the tiniest fluttering of gold wings in his fist. They'd won.

"HARRY POTTER HAS GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Lee's voice shouted in joy, but Briar paid now mind to her boyfriend's shout as she sped down towards Harry.

She landed next to him and stumbled slightly on the wet mud before kneeling down next to him. His eyes were closed: he had fainted. For a second Briar was confused why, but then she saw that the arm that wasn't holding the snitch was hanging at a very strange angle.

The rest of the team landed beside her.

"Is he okay?" Fred and George asked simultaneously.

"No, he's fainted and I'm almost certain his arm's broken" Briar told them, getting to her feet.

"He caught the snitch though, it could have been worse" Oliver said and Briar whirled on him to see that his lips were tugging in a smile.

Briar glared angrily at him. This was all his fault that her brother was hurt.

"Oliver, you should count yourself lucky that I'm not breaking your arm!" Briar shouted as people from the stands began to make their way over to see what was happening.

Hermione and Ron forced their way to the front of the crowd to make their way over to them, Collin Creevey following closely behind, his camera clicking as he took various photos of the scene.

"What's happening?" Ron asked.

"Is he okay?" added Hermione, looking down at Harry's unconscious form worriedly.

Briar never got to answer as another figure pushed his way through the crowd, this one taller and clad in green robes, saying "Coming through, coming through".

She shared an annoyed glance with the twins and the three of them groaned simultaneously.

"This is the part where he makes it worse now, isn't it?" Fred asked.

Briar and George sighed, nodding.

Lockhart leaned over Harry, just as he began to come to. His emerald eyes flickered open blearily and set sight on Lockhart. Briar winced in sympathy at Harry's annoyed look.

"Oh, no, not you," Harry moaned.

"Doesn't know what he's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them and Briar scoffed, Harry knew exactly what he was saying. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."

"No!" said Harry hurriedly. "I'll keep it like this, thanks…"

That got a small laugh from Briar and Ron, but they stopped when Hermione shot them a look.

Harry began to sit up but winced in pain. Briar rushed forward to his side and helped him sit up. Harry didn't have to say thank you, because it was completely natural for the twins to help each other.

There was clicking again as Colin began to snap more photos now that Harry was awake.

"I don't want a photo of this, Colin," Harry said loudly.

"Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart in what she assumed was meant to be a soothing voice, but coming from him it was anything but. "It's a simple charm, I've used it countless times-"

"Why can't he just go to the hospital wing?" Briar demanded angrily as Harry clenched his teeth in pain.

She wanted to stop Harry from hurting, but she didn't know how. But one thing she did know, was that Lockhart sure wasn't going to help at all.

"He should really, Professor," said a muddy Oliver and Briar glared at him when she saw he was still grinning despite Harry being hurt. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say-"

Briar looked for Fred and George, hoping they would be able to shut him up, but through the thicket of people she saw that they were busy wrestling the rogue Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight.

"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.

Briar didn't listen, if anything she pressed closer to Harry, wondering what was going to happen after Lockhart's spell work. If she had her wand she'd disarm the stupid git, but you couldn't have them during Quidditch games in case someone tries to curse a player.

"No – don't-" said Harry weakly.

Briar was about to protest too, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm.

She looked at her twin hesitantly and saw an uncomfortable look appear on his face and he looked away from his arm, not wanting to look. Briar was looking however, her hazel eyes wide. It was like Harry's arm deflated slightly and it looked rather like a thick, flesh-coloured rubber glove.

Lockhart definitely hadn't mended his arm, he had removed all the bones. There were gasps from the people nearest to them and Colin Creevey began clicking away madly.

"Ah," said Lockhart, rubbing his chin. "Yes. Well, that can happen sometimes."

"No, it bloody well can't!" Briar screeched angrily, and Lockhart looked affronted at her anger.

"Yes, but the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing – ah, Miss Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort him? – and Madam Pomfrey will be able to – err- tidy you up a bit"

Briar and Ron helped Harry to his feet as Hermione began to lead the way through the crowd. Harry looked down at his arm and paled further, looking rather like he was about to pass out again.

"'Tidy him up a bit'" Briar grumbled as they made their way through the castle, "I'd like to tidy him up a bit. I think a punch to the face would do it"

Ron grunted in agreement.

When they finally got to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.

"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second – but growing them back-"

"Well, try telling Lockhart that," Briar said through gritted teeth, silently fuming.

"You will be able to grow them back, won't you?" Harry asked the matron desperately.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Harry a pair of Pyjamas. "You'll have to spend the night…"

Hermione waited outside the curtain drawn around Harry's bed while Briar and Ron helped her brother into his pyjamas. It took a while to stuff the rubber, boneless arm back into the sleeve. (Harry holding the sleeve stead, Ron pushing and Briar pulling).

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Ron called through the curtain as he ceased his pushing to help Briar pull Harry's limp fingers through the cuff. "If Harry had wanted deboning he would have asked"

"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione and Briar scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it,?"

"No-" started Harry, getting into bed.

"-But it doesn't do anything else either" Briar finished for her twin, watching his arm flap pointlessly as he swung himself onto the bed.

Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. The latter was holding a large bottle of something labelled Skele-Gro.

"You're in for a rough night," she told Harry, pouring out a steaming beakerful and handing it to him. "Re-growing bones is nasty business.

Harry took the potion from the Matron and drank it, but he began to cough and sputter when he did. Briar knew from experience tha most healing potions tasted horrible. Still tut-tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Briar, Ron and Hermione to help Harry gulp down some water.

"We won, though," Briar said, finally allowing a grin to break across her face now that she was assured Harry would be fine.

"That was some catch you made." Ron added, also grinning. "Malfoy's face…he looked ready to kill…"

"Oh Merlin, I hope Colin got a picture" Briar chuckled, slightly miffed that she had missed it.

"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly, and Briar's smile vanished as she glared at the wall in thought.

"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've take the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff…"

Briar scoffed loudly.

Ron seemed to have the same thought as she had as he said, "If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking."

The door of the Hospital Wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Harry.

"Unbelievable flying, Harry," said George as he and Fred moved to stand on either side of Briar. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the snitch right on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy.

"I bet he didn't" Briar grinned.

George and Fred had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice from the kitchen. They all gathered around Harry's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey stormed over.

"This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to re-grow! Out! OUT!" Madam Pomfrey shouted and Briar, Ron and Hermione were ushered out with the rest of the Quidditch team.

It turned out that Colin Creevey had in fact gotten a picture of Malfoy's face. That night, Briar recruited Lee, the Weasley twins, and Peeves to help with a prank. The next day, every wall in the castle was plastered with pictures of Malfoy's furious face. They had lost five points each but it was worth it.


	23. The Duelling Club

Chapter Twenty Two

_The Duelling Club_

Briar woke up on Sunday morning as someone shook her awake, Lee groaning loudly next to her in the bed. She blinked blearily and forced herself to sit up, rubbing her eyes tiredly when she did. Her vision cleared enough to see that Ron, bleary eyed to show he had only just awoken, had been the one who was shaking her.

"Ugh what, Ron?" Briar moaned, ruffling her hair to get rid of the static from the pillow.

"Hermione wants to go to…you know" Ron said giving her a meaningful look.

Briar frowned, her sleep addled brain not able to decipher what that look meant. Lee stirred next to her, letting out another grown and slowly opened his chocolate brown eyes.

"Wazzgoinon?" her boyfriend mumbled, scrubbing a hand across his face as he slowly sat up.

"That's what I want to know" Briar sighed, looking at Ron questioningly.

Ron sighed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Hermione want us to go and do that thing" Ron said with that meaningful look again.

"What thing?" Briar moaned, leaning her head on Lee's shoulder, not feeling up to sitting up straight.

Ron sighed in frustration at her lack of understanding.

"The thing you asked your uncle Moony about" Ron prompted, his eyes wide as he tried to mentally give her the message.

Briar's first thought was of Fred and she glanced over at his sleeping form, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Why would Ron and Hermione know about that? Her eyes snapped back to Ron's and she suddenly realised what her meant. The Polyjuice potion!

She quickly hopped out of bed and rushed over to the bed on the other side of Lee's so that she could get her spare robes out of George's trunk.

"Where are you going?" Lee asked tiredly as Ron blushed as red as his hair and hastily turned around as she began to get changed.

"I just have to go and do something with Hermione and Ron" Briar said as she pulled the maroon robes over her head.

She leaned over Lee's bed and gave him a small kiss on the lips and he gave a small smile and lay back down in the bed to go back to sleep.

Briar began to exit the dorms before she stopped when she realised Ron wasn't following. She rolled her eyes when she noticed he still had his back to her as he stared at the door.

"You can turn around now" Briar said.

Ron turned around hesitantly, his face still a shocking shade of red. He muttered something under his breath, avoiding her gaze as he brushed past her to exit the dorms first. He lips tugged up in an amused smirk to follow.

On their journey through the castle the three of them were carefully avoiding any prefects or teachers, not wanting to get asked what they were doing about the castle so early. Briar was tempted to use the marauder's map, but she decided she didn't want Ron or Hermione to know about the map just yet.

"It's true Filius-" they suddenly heard Minnie's voice say, but for once she was sounding weary.

Briar shared a glance with the other two and they crept closer to the charms classroom to listen in better.

"-There's been another attack. It's happening again" Minnie finished.

Professor Flitwick gasped.

"I never imagined- who was it?" he asked worriedly.

"Colin Creevey, the first year" Minnie said "we found him petrified last night"

Briar shared a wide eyed glance with the other two, who had paled drastically and she bit her lip. They needed to figure out what was going on…and fast.

Not soon later the three of them were squeezed into a stall in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the door locked behind them. The three of them had decided that it was the best place to brew the potion without being caught seeing as no one in their right mind would go there.

Ron's cauldron was perched on the toilet, and Hermione had conjured her special potable waterproof fires beneath it.

"Shouldn't we wait for Harry?" Ron asked as she and Hermione put a few more ingredients into the bubbling potion.

"We need to get this done as soon as possible, the longer we wait, the more Muggle-borns Malfoy can go after" Hermione told him sternly, glancing up from studying Moste Potente to see what the next step was.

"Besides, Harry's rotten at potions" Briar shrugged.

She squeezed past Hermione so that she could stand opposite Ron, allowing the bushy haired girl to do most of the potion brewing. She was good enough at potions but Hermione was such a control freak that most of the time when she tried to help she got her hand slapped away.

"It's me," she suddenly heard Harry's voice say and the door of the bathroom shut behind him.

Briar and Ron jumped, both groaning as their heads hit together with a clunk and Hermione gasped in surprise and dropped the ingredient she was holding into the toilet.

"Oh, Godric" Briar grumbled, looking into the toilet to see a few of the lacewings floating inside.

Hermione pushed past her and Ron, who was rubbing his head with a wince, so that she could peer through the key hole, not recognizing Harry's voice like Briar had, but then again she knew Harry's voice almost as well as she knew her own.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she saw who it was, she straightened up and pushed the stall door open. "You gave us such a fright – come in, how's your arm?"

"Fine," said Harry, squeezing into the stall.

"I was going to visit you later on, but I suppose I don't have to know" Briar smirked, trying to not show how relieved she was that Harry was now perfectly fine.

"We'd've visited too, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained, as Briar with great difficulty since there was now four of them in there, locked the stall again.

Harry began to tell them about Colin, but Briar interrupted him.

"We know, we overheard Minnie telling Flitwick on our way down" Briar told him.

"That's why we decided we'd better get going-" put in Hermione.

"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Ron. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin"

"There's something else," said Harry and Briar paused in tearing bundles of knotgrass up for Hermione to look at him, she didn't like his tone. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night"

The three of them looked at him, amazed, before Hermione through the knotgrass into the potion. Harry began to tell them everything Dobby had told him – or hadn't told him. Briar, Hermione and Ron listened with their mouths open.

So the chamber had been opened again, it's all happened before. And someone was doing this, not Voldemort, but from what Harry said it seemed as though it had to be someone pretty damn similar.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said as Briar asked, "So, who opened it, why couldn't he say?"

"This settles it," said Ron in a triumphant voice. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby's told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

Briar groaned inwardly. She knew this, it was niggling the back of her mind. She knew it…but she didn't. This was so frustrating. It was made even worse that they were being bested by _Malfoy_ of all people. That slimy snake was behind this, she just knew it. Ron was right.

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself to be a suit of armour or something – I've read about chameleon Ghouls-"

"Yeah, but they're not creatures are they? The only Magical creatures with those abilities are Thestrals and Boggarts, but neither of them can petrify people" Briar said, pouring dead lacewings on top of the leeches.

"So Dobby stopped us from getting at the train and broke your arm?" Ron asked Harry, who nodded in response. "You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you?"

"Well that'd be a shame. Who else can I look at who looks as good as me?" Briar smirked, ruffling her hair and her three companions rolled their eyes in sync.

The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumour and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.

Briar had spent a lot of time trying to cheer up Ginny, who was distraught since she sat next to Colin in charms. She wasn't that good at comforting people so she tried to take her mind off of it by talking to her about Harry, honestly she was started to get tired of hearing her own twin's name.

Fred and George however took a different tactic in cheering their little sister up and, while she found it hilarious, it had to be their worst plan ever. They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares.

Briar thought that was extremely harsh of him, they were only doing what they thought was best for her, even if they were completely wrong. In what way did jumping out at her when there was Slytherin's monster on the loose make sense?

Speaking of terrible plans, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school. Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed crystal, and a rotting newt tail. Briar understand why because he was pureblood.

Her reply from Uncle Moony finally came a few days later.

_To Bambi,_

_Well done about the Quidditch team, I never doubted you! You've got too much of your father in you to not get on the team. _

_I would scold you on the prank, but since it was on Lockhart I think I'll let it slide. I laughed so hard I spit out my tea when I read that just imagining his annoying perfect hair falling out of place. _

_And he better be, I have already got a list of terribly painful things I could do to Lee if he misbehaved. _

_Oh, I think I know exactly what's wrong with Fred and trust me…he's not ill. _

_I'm not sure what you would need this ingredient for, but here you go, I managed to get it cheaper from the apothecary. The Wizard who owns the place has been looking at me oddly lately, I'm afraid to say that I don't think this job will last much longer._

_Love, Moony. _

Briar handed the powdered horn of bicorn to Hermione, who eagerly rushed up to the dorms to add in with the rest of her Polyjuice Potion supplies. She frowned at his response to the predicament with Fred. He sounded extremely amused and he didn't even tell her what it was that was wrong with him. That was completely useless.

However, Fred's strange behaviour with her seemed to stop over the next week, but that didn't mean the strangeness didn't stop, only this time it included George.

Since the attack on Colin, Fred and George hadn't left her side, not even for a second. Everywhere she went they were right their next to her and when they weren't she would still be in their eye line. They even began standing outside of the toilets when she went in there for a break from them. S

he loved them, they were her best friends, but there came a point when she needed space, she could barely even spend any time alone with Lee with the twins lurking around her and Fred always seemed to be in the middle of them.

"Okay, that's it!" Briar exclaimed as she jumped in shock when they were waiting outside her charms detention for her.

"What?" Fred and George asked simultaneously and Briar gritted her teeth at the fact that they seemed genuinely confused about her annoyance.

"Why are you always here?" she asked slowly, forcing herself to stay calm as the three of them began to make their way down the corridor. "It seems like the only time away from you I get is when I go the toilet or am in detention and even then you're right outside waiting for me"

"We can't hang out with our friend?" Fred asked in a forced nonchalant voice.

"Oh you can hang out with me. We can talk and fly and prank and sneak into Hogsmeade, but you don't have to follow me everywhere I go" Briar said slowly, her hazel eyes flashing.

"Okay, but-" Fred started to protest.

"No"

"What if-" started George.

"No"

"Yeah, but-"

"No!" she shouted, making the twins jump slightly. "Why would you even need to follow me?"

Fred and George shared and glance and she sighed in annoyance.

"What?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"With the attacks on Filch and Colin we just thought-" George started.

"-That we would make sure nothing happened to you" Fred finished, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as the twins' ears tinged red.

Briar sighed heavily, her anger ebbing out of her as she looked at their earnest expressions. Fred and George were both bossy, arrogant and mischievous, but Briar was pretty sure they had the biggest hearts of everyone she knew, even if they didn't show it.

"Why are you being so overprotective?" she asked finally. "I'm a half-blood that comes from a powerful pureblood line, I'm not a muggleborn. If anything you should be protecting Lee"

"Yeah, but you're not just our friend, you're our best friend" George started to explain. "Ever since we can remember no one has been able to tell us a part, not even our own mum. It's like we weren't our own person"

"But you saw through our trick the first time you met us, and you haven't mixed us up since." Fred added, the pair of them looking oddly serious. "Bambi, you're our best…friend"

Briar didn't notice the way he winced at the word 'friend' because she could feel the back of her eyes stinging, she almost felt like she was about to cry. No one had ever said anything like that to her, she couldn't handle facing emotions, the side effect of being raised by a werewolf who had spent his whole life hiding things she supposed.

She honestly didn't think that much about telling them apart, it was obvious to her, as easy as breathing.

Fred was the daredevil, the one who came up with the ideas and took the lead, he didn't put much stock in people's feelings, he was a lot like her in that respect, in most every respect really. However, George was the supporter, the one who made Fred's plans work with the least amount of rusk. George was the less reckless and kinder of the two, but he did have a terrible temper.

Briar bit her lip, not really wanting to confront her feelings.

"Well, I suppose I am brilliant" Briar ruffled her hair, trying to get past the emotional parts.

Fred and George snorted and both looked as relieved as she was at the end of the mushy conversation.

While Fred and George were following her, Hermione was also driving her barmy in the dorms every night, to get a break from the boys she stopped hanging out in their dorms so much. After Harry had told them what Dobby had said she was pouring over books, trying to figure out what Dobby had been implying.

"Maybe it's like a riddle, like when is a door not a door?" Hermione suggested.

Briar looked up from turning Lavenders cat a bright shade of pink to look at Hermione with bored eyes, she had been drowning her out for the past our.

"I don't know. When it was a wall pretending to be a door?" she asked with a flat voice.

"No." Hermione said in a way that said it should have been obvious. "when it's ajar, it hasn't actually changed it's the position off it…that's not the point. The point is that Dobby was implying that it had something to do with you-know-who, and I seriously doubt Malfoy could come up with this sort of thing on his own…"

Briar frowned in confusion.

"What, so, it's still Voldemort, but…different?" Briar asked her nose scrunched up in bewilderment.

"I don't know" Hermione sighed in annoyance and looked back at her book for a second before back to Briar. "Okay, what if-"

Briar had had enough after that. She decided that she _needed_ some liquorice wands and decided to drag Lee off to Hogsmeade to get some. She felt like she was spending less and less time with Lee as of late.

In the second week of December Minnie came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Briar Harry, Ron and Hermione signed her list. Not only did her Uncle Moony not want a repeat of what happened last year on the full moon, but they had also heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck all of them as suspicious.

The holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and try to worm a confession out of him.

Unfortunately, the potion was only half finished. They still needed the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snivillus' private stores.

"I think I'd rather face Slytherins monster than have Snape catch me robbing his office" Harry muttered to her lowly as Thursday afternoon's double potions lesson loomed nearer.

"Where's you sense of adventure? Tormenting Snivillus is my favourite pass time" Briar whispered back, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"What we need," said Hermione briskly, having heard none of their hushed conversation, "is a diversion, then one of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need"

Briar rolled her eyes when Harry and Ron shot the bushy haired girl a nervous look. They really needed to grow a pair.

"I think I'd better do the actual stealing," Hermione continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "Harry and Ron will be expelled if you course any more trouble, Professor Snap would jump at the chance to get Briar, and I have a clean record. So all you three need is to cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so"

Harry smiled feebly, Ron paled and a huge mischievous grin bloomed on Briar's face.

"You're giving me permission to cause trouble? This is my specialty" Briar said eagerly.

Potions lessons took place in one of the large dungeons. Thursday afternoon's lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients.

Snivillus prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively. Draco Malfoy, who was Snivillus' favourite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes as Harry and Ron and the only reason Briar resisted retaliating was because it was up to her to cause a distraction for Hermione.

Briar was adding a few extra frog legs to her Swelling solution in order to make it more potent, making a note of it in her potions book, when Hermione caught her eye and nodded.

She pulled one of the fireworks that Briar and Lee had stolen from Filch's office from her robe and discretely tapped it with her wand, muttering an incantation that Hermione had spent the last few days teaching her.

Briar then ducked swiftly behind her cauldron and gave the firework another quick prod with her wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing from past experience that she only had a few seconds, she straightened up, took aim, and lobbed it into the air and it landed right on target, in Goyle's cauldron.

Goyle's potion exploded and as the firework's sparks filled the Slytherin side of the room all of the slimy gits were turned a Gryffindor red.

The Slytherins shrieked in anger as they noticed what happened and the Gryffindors began to snicker and point. Snivillus was trying to restore calm before his hollow gaze landed on Briar.

"POTTER!" he roared. "What did you think you were doing you foolish girl?!"

Briar smirked mischievously, her hazel eyes glinting, which only seemed to anger him even more.

"I thought the class could do with some colour, Snivillus" said Briar ruffling her hair and ignoring the warning look Harry sent her way.

"Arrogant, just like your father" Snivillus sneered, as though his words were supposed to be an insult, although she had to admit she didn't like the greasy git talking about her dad.

"Actually, I'm arrogant in a way that's entirely my own" Briar shot back the smirk not leaving her face.

"Detention, Potter, and ten points from Gryffindor" Snivillus spat.

Briar was about to say more but Harry discretely elbowed her in the ribs and she saw Hermione slide back into the dungeon, the front of her robes bulging with the ingredients she stole.

After Potions had ended, Briar, Harry, Hermione and Ron all hurried back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"You took it a bit far, don't you think, Bambi?" Harry asked incredulously.

Briar laughed and even Ron snorted.

"Come on, Harry, how can I pass up a chance to torment Snivillus?" Briar smirked.

Hermione threw the new ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir feverishly.

"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said happily.

"Snape deserved everything he got from Briar" said Ron reassuringly to Harry.

A week later at eight o'clock Briar and Lee hurried down to the great hall for the duelling club with the twins, their hand clasped together.

The long tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"I can't wait to see who'll be teaching us" Lee said eagerly and Briar smiled up at him at the brilliant smile that lit up his face that made her stomach give a jolt.

"I heard that Flitwick was duelling champion, imagine if it's him" George grinned.

Briar looked to Fred expecting him to say something but saw he was looking resolutely away from her and Lee and towards the stage. She rolled her eyes. Great, they were back to the weird behaviour.

"Well, I'll be fine with anyone as long as it's not-" Briar began, however the four of them ended up letting out simultaneous groans.

Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snivillus, wearing his usual black.

"Off all people it had to be them" Lee grumbled and Briar nodded in agreement staring at the two professors in disbelief.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? can you all hear me? Excellent. Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works."

"Countless because it hasn't happened" Briar said and Lee and the twins let out a snort of laughter.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself."

Briar shared an amused look with Fred at the sneer on Snivillus' face, but then the latter seemed to catch himself and quickly looked away, making Briar sigh.

"And he has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your Potions when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"That's definitely not what we're afraid of-" Fred started.

"-If anything that's our biggest dream" George finished.

Briar and Lee laughed in amusement.

Snivillus' upper lip was curling, but Lockhart was still smiling, which seemed to only fuel Snivillus' annoyance further.

Lockhart and Snivillus turned to face each other and bowed, at least Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snivillus jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them. Briar actually found herself rooting for Snivillus, this may be his finest moment.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course"

"I don't know, if I was Snape I wouldn't hesitate in finishing him off" Fred said and Briar smirked cruelly just imagining it.

"One – two – three-" Lockhart counted.

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snivillus cried: "Expelliarmus!"

There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet. He flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

Briar, Lee and the twins roared with laughter along with a few other Gryffindors and the Slytherins cheered their head of house.

Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a disarming charm – as you see, I've lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown – yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy – however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"

Snivillus was looking murderous and Briar couldn't get the large amused grin of her face as she watched the interaction happily.

Possibly Lockhart noticed Snivillus' expression, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you know and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me-"

Briar and Lee shared a grin, ready to pair up, but Snivillus seemed to have other ideas.

"I don't think so, Potter" said Snivillus, smiling coldly.

Briar scowled as she was ushered towards Pugface Parkinson instead. Snivillus had also split up the twins, Fred looking extremely unhappy with Marcus Flint, and he also split up Harry and Ron, her twin instead with Malfoy.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Parkinson didn't bow, instead just gave her a cold sneer, but Briar bowed mockingly a shit eating grin on her face, her hazel eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Wands at the ready!" Shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents – only to disarm them – we don't want any accidents – one…two…three-"

Briar swung her wand high, but instead of the disarming charm, she said "Levicorpus!"

Parkinson shrieked angrily as she was pulled up into the air by her ankle, dropping her wand in her shock and was trying to holding her skirt up with her hands.

"POTTER!" Snivillus roared in a familiar tone, and he waved his dark wand so that Parkinson fell in a heap on the floor, glaring at Briar angrily. "Five points from Gryffindor!"

However, his presence seemed to unnerve Lee, just as it always did and his wand work went wrong, winding up setting Snivillus' robes alight instead.

Briar couldn't help the laughter that bubbled past her lips as she saw the absolute look of horror on her boyfriend's face as he desperately put out the fire, Snivillus looming over him angrily. Briar used the distraction to move around Parkinson and discretely pull out a few of her blonde strands of hair and shoving them in her robe pocket.

It seemed Lockhart's plan to disarm only hadn't worked out for anyone. Fred was sporting bunny ears while Flint had a black eye, Lockhart was laughing uncontrollably form a tickling charm Harry, who looked rather dazed and was dancing uncontrollably, had hit him with.

Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had down; but across the hall Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Brair leaps forward and pulled Millicent off. It was difficult: she was a lot bigger than she was.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan…careful there, Miss Fawcett…Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot…I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart flustered in the midst of the hall.

Lockhart glanced at Snivillus, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away.

"Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snivillus, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a match box."

Neville's round, pink face went pinker.

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snivillus with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room, but Briar made sure she was at the front.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this" he raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action and Dropped it. Snivillus smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying "Whoops – my wand is a little overexcited-"

Briar scowled narrowing his eyes as Snivillus moved closer to Malfoy, bent down and whispered something in his ear that made Malfoy smirk.

After a few quiet taunting's Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"

"What, drop my wand?" Harry asked sarcastically and Briar snorted in laughter.

Lockhart wasn't listening.

"Three – two – one – go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded. Briar stiffened as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor and raised itself towards Harry, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor, Briar would have stayed where she was, but Lee dragged her backwards, holding her to his side protectively.

She didn't take her eyes off of the snake and tightened her hand on her wand, ready to intervene to do anything she could think of if it tried to hurt her twin.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snivillus lazily and Briar glowered as he was clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart.

"Oh no…" Lee muttered and Briar winced knowing whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be good.

Lockhart brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Harry suddenly rushed forward and began to make hissing noises and for the first time Briar couldn't understand what he said. He was speaking in snake language…he was a parselmouth.

The Snake slumped to the floor and Harry relaxed so she guessed whatever he said had stopped it, but everyone else looked angry and scared, she supposed to people who didn't know Harry as well as she did it appeared that he had been egging it on.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" Lee asked her but Briar just shook her head, looking at Harry with wide, shocked eyes.

"What do you think you're playing at?!" Justin shouted angrily before he turned and stormed out of the hall, a few of his fellow Hufflepuffs following.

Mutters broke out across the hall but Briar paid no mind to them and instead rushed forward to grab Harry by the arm and lead him from the hall, Ron and Hermione quickly following.

They exited the hall. As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. None of them said anything until they had dragged Harry all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common room.

Ron pushed Harry into an armchair and said, "You're parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" said Harry.

"A parselmouth. It means you can talk to snakes" Briar explained quietly.

Her twin was speaking a language associated with Slytherins. She just couldn't understand where he could have gotten it from. The Potters were Gryffindors through and through and their mum was a muggleborn.

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once – long story – but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I short of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a wizard-"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.

"So?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it"

"But that's the thing, they can't, Harry. It's the rarest gift known to Wizards. With the Chamber opening…this is bad" Briar said, looking at Harry sympathetically.

"What's bad?" snapped Harry and Briar could see that the anger he had inherited from their mum was brewing "What's wrong with everyone? Listen if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?" Ron asked.

"What d'you mean? You were all there – you heard me-"

Briar shook her head with a frown.

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything – no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something – it was creepy, you know-"

Briar couldn't help but slightly agree and Harry gaped at them.

"I spoke a different language? But – I didn't realize – how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"

Briar shook her head again. This was awful. Everyone was going to think he was Slytherins heir, he was going to be a total outcast. How in the hell was Harry a Parseltongue? It just didn't make any sense.

"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" he said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent"

Harry mouth fell open as he finally seemed to realise the severity of the situation.

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole School's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something-"

"But I'm not," said Harry panicked.

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "he lived about a thousand years ago, for all we know you could be."

"But we're not." Briar put in, making the other three look at her sharply. "Our grandma Potter was big on looking back through our history. We're related to Slytherin sure, all the pureblood families are inter-related somehow, but if you go back to the Peveralls we are descended from a completely different brother. There used to be rumours we were descended from Gryffindor himself. I don't understand how Harry got that gift, but it's not from our heritage"


	24. The Polyjuice Potion

Chapter Twenty Three

_The Polyjuice Potion_

It seemed Harry's knack for stumbling upon trouble, rather than diving at it head first like Briar, hadn't yet come to an end. He was caught at the scene of yet another attack, this one on Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick. Harry had told her, Hermione and Ron the whole story as soon as he got back from Dumbledore's office.

The double attack on Justin and Nick turned what had been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nicks fate that seemed to worry people most. What could possible do that to a ghost? What terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.

"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told her, Harry and Hermione. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."

Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays too.

"I don't know" Briar said musingly with a smirk. "I'd like to take it upon myself to give them a special Christmas present"

"Well, I'm glad most people are leaving" Harry told them glumly.

She could see where he was coming from. People began skirting around him in the corridors, as though he was about to sprout fangs or spit poison, muttering, pointing and hissing as he passed. However, to be quite honest Briar found the whole thing extremely amusing, that everyone was hating on someone who actually stopped Voldemort last year and was a_ Gryffindor_ for Merlin's sake.

Fred and George were on the same wavelength as her. The three of them went out of their way to march ahead of her twin down the corridors.

"Make way for the heir of Slytherin!" Fred shouted.

"Seriously evil wizard coming through…" George yelled.

"Don't want to be petrified for being close to him in the corridor!" Briar added loudly.

Percy, as always, was deeply disapproving of their behaviour. He stormed up to them, his lips pursed and brows furrowed as he straightened his glasses on his pompous face.

"It's not a laughing matter," he said coldly.

"Come off it" Briar rolled her eyes.

"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred, obviously not put off by his older brother. "Harry's in a hurry"

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secret for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.

"If we're lucky, he might even invite us there with scones" Briar said in a faux eager voice.

The next day when she and Harry came down for breakfast, Fred asked loudly who he was planning on attacking next and George, in an overly dramatic fashion, was pretending to ward him off with a large clove of garlic.

Ginny, who was sitting next to them, didn't seem to find it in the least bit amusing, wailing in her begging of them to stop.

Briar just couldn't understand why she was so upset about it, she seemed to be getting paler and paler by the day. Fred and George were also at a loss, while Percy seemed to have the idea that she was just ill. Besides, the whole idea of a Potter being the heir of Slytherin was ludicrous, Parselmouth or not.

Spurring her and the twins on more was the fact that their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.

"Come on, make way, make way! Slytherin's heir has some evil crimes to commit!" Briar shouted as she walking in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him, scowling and narrowing his cold grey eyes at them.

"There's definite something up with him, he better be careful or his face will be stuck like that" Briar said as they rounded the corner.

"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron knowingly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."

"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."

As the last term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Briar found it very peaceful. She enjoyed the fact that she, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had the run of Gryffindor tower. The Weasleys having chosen to stay rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr and Mrs Weasley. She was surprised Ginny had decided to stay to be honest, knowing how much the younger girl idolized her eldest brother.

However, Briar was missing her Uncle Moony and Zingy. She had been sending him letters almost every day but other than Harry he was the only family she had left. This was also yet another year where she was going to miss visiting her Parents and Aunt Dorcas' graves. Her Uncle Moony had promised that in the summer he would make it up to her by taking her to visit Aunt Marlene as well, but it still didn't change the fact she wasn't there now.

Fred and George were cheering her up with many trips to Hogsmeade, planning pranks, inventing more products, loudly playing exploding snap and practicing duelling.

"Okay are you ready?" Fred asked as he handed her a pale blue candy.

"Yep. Which one is this one again?" she asked eying the sweet as she tried to remember which one of hers and the twin's inventions were blue.

"Urm…" George scanned through all of the many pieces of parchments they had filled with notes on different ideas and successful and failed products. "It's the one that's supposed to make you day dream"

Briar stuffed the sweet into her mouth and began to chew. When she finally swallowed it her nose was wrinkled and her eyes were watering slightly.

"Ugh, that tasted awful" Briar moaned, wiping her tongue on her sleeve.

George quickly wrote that down on the parchment, noting it as something that needed to be improved.

"Well?" George asked expectantly.

"What?" Briar asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Do you feel any different?" Fred sighed in slight exasperation.

Briar shrugged.

"Not reall-" Briar cut herself of when a wave of peacefulness went through her head.

It felt like her brain was surrounded by cotton wool and once it faded, she felt extremely different. Like she was too big for her head. She felt like a child again.

Briar let out a childish giggle, looking up at the twin with wide, innocent eyes.

"Bambi…?" George asked hesitantly.

"Georgie!" Briar exclaimed, moving to rap her arms around his neck, giggling. "Your hairs so red, it's like you fell in muggle paint" she laughed.

"Okay?" George said, looking at her weirdly.

Briar giggled once again and pulled back so that she could look at both of the twins. Her childish mind wasn't able to decipher the worried look they were giving her.

"You're my best friends right?" she asked innocently.

Fred and George shared a glance.

"Yeah…Bambi…we're your best friends…" Fred said slowly, eyeing her carefully afraid of the fact he and George had no clue what was happening.

"Then, we can go outside to play. Uncle Moony says I can play when I'm good!" Briar exclaimed and grabbed each of the twins by their hands to pull them towards the dormitory door.

The twins stopped her from moving and Fred grabbed her shoulders to turn her around to face them.

"Bambi, I think we need to take you to the Hospital Wing" Fred said worriedly.

"NO!" Briar shouted, stomping her foot. "I want to play!"

"You really need to go to see Madam Pomfrey" insisted George.

"I don't wanna!" Briar cried.

She forced herself out of their grips and sat down, cross legged, on the floor, her arms crossed and a huge pout on her lips.

Fred and George shared a bewildered look before they seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Briar Rose Potter, get up right now!" Fred said firmly.

Briar's eyes hazel eyes filled with tears. She hated getting shouted at and she couldn't believe her best friends were angry at her. Tears began to slip down her face and a sob escaped her lips.

Fred and George's eyes widened comically, opening and closing their mouths without making a sound, having no clue what to do.

Briar got to her feet and quickly ran out of the dormitory, ignoring the twins shouting after her. She rushed down to the common room and was about to leave so that she could get far away and hide when she noticed Harry sitting on an armchair by the fire.

She ran over to him and jumped on him in a tight hug and began to cry into his neck. Harry's eyes widened and he hugged her back tightly.

"What's wrong, Bambi?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Fred…and…George…were being…mean" Briar cried between sobs, shaking in her brother's arms.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion, moving away slightly so he could look at Briar and wipe the tears from her face.

"You're my brother, you have to look after me" Briar whined, sniffling slightly "Like you did when that bad man was hurting me last year"

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron exclaimed, finally coming out of the shocked silence he was in.

"I'm not sure" Harry said, looking at Briar in confusion.

Fred and George finally rushed into the common room. They looked around wildly for a moment before sighing in relief when they saw Briar.

"Bambi, there you are" George sighed as the two of them walked over.

"Harry, make them go away!" Briar cried, burying her head into her brother's neck again and tightening her hold on him desperately.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron asked again, but it was directed at the twins this time.

Fred shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"We were testing something -" Fred started.

"-and then she just started acting like a child" George finished, staring at Briar in concern.

"Oh" Harry and Ron breathed in realisation as it finally began to make sense.

"That was incredibly irresponsible of you" Hermione snapped, getting to her feet. "She could have been seriously hurt, what if she's stuck like that forever?"

The four boys' eyes widened worriedly.

"That can't really happen can it?" Harry asked Hermione, shooting a glare at the twins.

Hermione just shrugged.

She walked over to Briar and carefully pulled her away from Harry, pulled her two her feet and turned her to face her, having to look up slightly due to Briar's taller height.

"Briar, why don't we take you to the medical room?" Hermione suggested patiently.

"I don't want to go" Briar sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

Hermione wasn't deterred and stayed calm unlike the twins.

"If we go and you're good, I'll give you a liquorice wand" Hermione said temptingly.

Briar's eyes brightened and she nodded eagerly. Hermione took her friend by the hand and began to lead her from the common room.

"Oh, so she'll go with Hermione" Fred grumbled.

Hermione shot him a glare over her shoulder before she took Briar to the Hospital wings. When they got back to the common room, Briar head was pounding and she and the twins decided that that particular product definitely needed more work.

Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Briar and Hermione woke up Harry and Ron extremely early as they burst into their dorm, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both. Briar's hair was messier than usual and her face paler due to getting awakened by Hermione sooner than she wanted to.

"Wake up," Hermione said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.

"Hermione, Brair – you're not supposed to be in here -" said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present. "I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."

"You mean _we've_ been up since you made me come with you" Briar corrected with a yawn, moving to slump down on the end of Harry's bed.

Harry sat up, seemingly wide awake.

"Are you sure?" He asked Hermione as Briar handed both of the boys their presents.

"Positive," said Hermione, shifting Scabbers the rat so that she could sit down on the end of Ron's four-poster. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight"

At that moment, Hedwig swopped into the room, carry a small package in her beak. It was much the same way that Onyx had entered earlier to give Briar her presents from her Uncle Moony, Zingy Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lee and Hagrid.

Briar had gotten sweets from Ron and a luxury eagle feather quill from Hermione, who had also gotten the same for Harry. From Fred and George she had gotten a beautiful gold and red notebook that only she could open to write down pranks and product information better than the thousands of pieces of parchment they were using now.

From Lee she had gotten a pretty ruby ring the same colour as the Gryffindor banner, a photo of her and Harry from her twin (which she immediately ran over to the girls dorms to put on her bed-side table), a large plum cake from the Weasleys and a brand new hand-knitted sweater, treacle fudge from Hagrid, a tin of cookies from Zingy and a leather strap that connects to her thigh so that she could have her wand while wearing a dress.

No one, not even someone dreading taking the Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.

The great hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry from the ceiling.

Dumbledore led them in a few of his favourite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with each and every goblet of eggnog he consumed. Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read 'Pinhead,' kept asking what they were sniggering at. Briar was in a rather good mood at the fact she had bewitched Malfoy's sweater, which he had been loudly bragging about, to flash Hufflepuff yellow.

Briar, Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening.

"We still need a bit of the people you're turning into," said Hermione to Harry and Ron matter-of-factly. "and obviously it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoys best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."

Harry and Ron looked stupefied and how much Hermione had thought this through, but Briar had been listening to the girl rant and plan in the dorms for about a month.

"It's all worked out. I stole these," Briar started, pulling two cupcakes from her bag, "from the kitchens and filled them with a sleeping draught. As long as you make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them is should be fine"

"You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them" Hermione added as Briar handed the boys the cakes. "Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."

Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think-"

"Bambi, that could got seriously wrong-"

A steely glint had appeared in Hermione's eye, not unlike the one Minnie sometimes had when she or the twins pulled a prank, that quieted both of the boys.

"The Potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"

"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But what about you two? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"We've already got ours" Briar shrugged.

She and Hermione both pulled out tiny bottles. Briar's contained a strand of blonde hair that she had gotten off of Parkinson during the duelling club.

"Briar got hers off Pansy Parkinson and remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the duelling club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! Both of them have gone home for Christmas. All we have to do is tell the Slytherins we've decided to come back"

"And I've got to fawn over Malfoy" Briar grumbled, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Harry looked at her wide eyed when he realised that it was true and Ron pretended to gag.

A moment later Hermione bustled Briar off to check on the Polyjuice potion again. The bathroom wasn't as deserted as usual. Moaning Myrtle was floating by the sinks, looking at her squat figure in the mirror.

Hermione looked at Briar in alarm, not wanting the ghost to be there when they take the potion.

"What are you two doing in here?" the ghost asked moodily, glaring at the pair of them.

"We just came to laugh at you ugliness" Briar teased with a smirk

"Of course you did, everyone comes to laugh at ugly Moaning Myrtle" Moaning Myrtle shouted angrily, her ghostly eyes filling with tears.

"Obviously, I mean look at all the spots she has, 'Mione," Briar nudged Hermione, who shot her a wide-eyed glare, motioning for her to shut up, "Peeves was right"

Moaning Myrtle let out a lard wail as she began to sob and flew up into the air and moving to shoot down the third stall toilet, a large splash of water falling onto the floor.

"Why would you do that?" Hermione demanded, hitting her on the arm…hard.

Briar rubbed her sore arm, but was still grinning.

"Oh, come on," she rolled her hazel eyes. "it got her to leave didn't it?"

"I hate it when you act like- like- you!" Hermione cried in annoyance.

"Nah, you don't" Briar smirked. "you're the queen of everything serious, you need a jester in your life"

Hermione just shook her head, moving to check on the potion. After Hermione had double and triple checked the potion, Briar and Hermione changed into the larger Slytherin robes they had stolen.

Briar was stirring the potion, thick black smoke issuing from it, when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Hermione? Briar?" Ron's voice came.

The lock scraped as Hermione unlocked the door and two girls emerged.

"Did you get them?" Hermione asked.

Harry showed her Goyle's hair.

"Good. Briar and I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry a couple of days ago" Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle"

The four of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly. Briar definitely wasn't looking forward to drinking it.

"We've definitely done everything right" Briar said ruffling her hair.

"I'm sure we have," said Hermione, not as convinced as she nervously reread the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should…once we're drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change into ourselves."

"Now what?" Ron whispered.

"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs.

Hermione ladled large dollops of potion into each of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook Millicent Bulstrode's hair out of its bottle into the first glass.

The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned a sick sort of yellow.

"Ugh – essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, wrinkling his nosed disgustedly.

"Bet it tastes lovely" Briar drawled sarcastically.

"Add yours, then," said Hermione.

Briar shook Pansy Parkinson's hair into the second glass, while Harry dropped Goyle's hair into the third glass and Ron put Crabbe's into the last one. All glasses hissed and frothed: Parkinson's turned a muddy shade of pink, Goyle's turned the khaki colour of bogies and Crabbe's a dark, murky brown.

"Hang on," said Harry as Briar, Ron and Hermione reached for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here…once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie."

Briar nodded in agreement, unlocking the door.

"Good thinking," said Ron. "We'll take separate stalls."

Careful not to spill a drop of the disgusting looking Polyjuice Potion, Briar slipped into the end stall, while Harry and Ron took the two middle ones.

"Ready?" Harry called.

"Ready," Briar said back in sync with Ron and Hermione.

"One – two – three-"

Briar paused for a moment, looking at the potion containing a bit of Slytherin with deepest loathing before, pinching her nose, she drank the potion down in two large gulps.

It was the most rotten thing she had ever tasted, she suspected if she went to the Hospital Wing and mixed every single healing potion together it was still taste better than essence of Parkinson.

Immediately, her insides started writhing as though she'd just swallowed live snakes – doubled up, she wondered whether she was going to be sick. A burning sensation spread rapidly from her stomach to the very ends of her fingers and toes.

She leaned heavily against the wall of the stall as a horrible melting feeling came over her as the skin all over her body bubbled like hot wax. In front of her very eyes her fingers shortened and got slightly chubbier, the nails lengthened and her skin becoming more tan. Her body became slightly wider and shorter painfully. The only thing she had felt more painful than this was the cruciatus…nothing could compare to that.

The tickling on her forehead told her that she now had bangs, her hair have shortened to her shoulders her hair neatening and lightening into a blonde. She was glad she had changed beforehand because she would have had to have burned her robes if a Slytherin had been wearing them, even if the Slytherin was really her.

As suddenly as it started, everything stopped. Briar was leaning against the stall, her breathing coming in gasps. She brushed Parkinson's bangs out of her face with a trembling hand.

"Are you three okay?" Goyle's low rasp of a voice called.

"Yeah?" came the deep grunt of Crabbe from her right.

"Same here" Briar called using Parkinson's annoying nasally voice.

She heard two stalls open as Harry and Ron exited their stalls, probably to look at themselves to look in the mirrors opposite.

"This is unbelievable" she heard Crabbe's voice say "unbelievable."

Briar nodded in agreement even though they couldn't see her. She was staring down at Parkinson's hands and touched her face with the rather flat nose and chubby cheeks. The nose wrinkled slightly with disgust.

"Are you two ready, we need to go!" Harry called in Goyle's voice.

"Give me a minute." Briar said, wincing at Parkinson's voice coming from her mouth. "I have to let the mortification of this moment move a little further into the past before I can come out"

She took a deep breath and finally exited the stall.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing their waiting for her. Harry was now sporting Goyle's dull, deep-set eyes and Ron had Crabbe's flat nose.

Briar looked opposite her in the mirror to see Pugface Parkinson staring back at her, only with wide eyes and her face paled slightly. Briar reached a hand up to touch the blonde hair and Parkinson did the same.

"I look disgusting" Briar whined.

Harry and Ron did nothing but nod Goyle and Crabbe's thick head in agreement.

"We'd better get going," said Harry, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow…."

Briar rolled her eyes.

"I know where their common room is, I've been down their tonnes of times" Briar said dismissively, ignoring Harry and Ron's questioning looks.

Ron, who had turned his gaze to Harry, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking." He banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go-"

A high-pitched voice answered him.

"I-I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me"

"'Mione, I know how awful it is to be a Slytherin, trust me, I know, but-" Briar stated.

"-No one's going to know it's you" Harry finished.

"No – really – I don't think I'll come. You three hurry up, you're wasting time" Hermione stuttered in answer.

Briar shared a bewildered look with Harry and Ron.

"Now you look like a Slytherin" Briar smirked at Harry's dumb expression.

"Definitely looks more like Goyle," nodded Ron. "That's how he looked every time a teacher asks him a question"

"Hermione, are you okay?" said Harry through the door.

"Fine – I'm fine – go on-"

"You don't sound fine" Briar frowned.

Harry looked at his watch and Briar glanced at it too. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed.

"We'll meet you back here, all right?" Harry said to Hermione.

Briar, Harry and Ron opened the door of the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off.

"Don't swing your arms like that," Harry said to Ron.

"Eh?"

"Crabbe holds them sort of stiff…"

"How's this?"

"Yeah, that's better…Bambi, you're walking wrong" Harry said.

Briar frowned and began to do a walk that was more like a saunter, her non-existent hips swaying more than usual.

"Like this?"

"Yeah"

Briar led Harry and Ron down the marble staircase so that they could go down towards the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was. Crabbe and Goyle's large feet were echoing on the ground as they hurried along.

They suddenly stopped when a figure emerged from a side room. Briar's eyes widened. It was Percy.

"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise and Briar elbowed him harshly.

Percy look affronted.

"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"

"Wh – oh, yeah," said Ron.

"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."

"You are," Ron pointed out.

"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, and Briar had to resist mouthing the words that were about to come next, having heard them so many times, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me"

Briar rolled her eyes, as if Slytherin's monster was going to be afraid because he was a prefect.

A voice suddenly echoed behind Briar, Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the first time in her life Briar was actually glad to see him.

"There you are," he drawled, looking at Harry and Ron. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."

Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.

Percy looked outraged.

"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"

Malfoy sneered and motion for Harry and Ron to follow him. Briar quickly followed too.

"That Peter Weasley-" Malfoy said as they turned into the next passage.

"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically.

"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed"

"I doubt that" Briar scoffed before she could stop herself.

Malfoy looked in her direction, clearly having only just noticed she was there. He looked at her with his brows drawn together.

"Pansy? I thought you were going home" he commented.

"Wh-oh yeah." Briar was mentally kicking herself so she put on a faux adoring expression "I just thought I could stay closer to you Drakey"

Malfoy clearly bought it as he paused by a seeming stretch of bare, damp stone wall that Briar recognized as the entrance to the common room.

"What's the new password again?" he said to Harry, whose eyes widened.

"Er-" said Harry.

"Oh, yeah – pureblood!" said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open.

Once again Briar was struck by how unimaginative the passwords were. Malfoy marched through the door, and Briar, Harry and Ron followed him.

The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone wall and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were handing on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.

"Wait here," said Malfoy to Harry and Ron, motioning them into some empty chair set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me-"

Briar looked shared a glance with Harry and Ron before the three of them sat down, the boys doing their best and failing, to look comfortable.

Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose.

"That'll give you a laugh," he said.

Briar saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh and handed it to Harry.

Harry seemed to have the same reaction as one and glanced at Briar, giving her a silent look that told her whatever it was wasn't good. He handed her the clipping.

_INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car._

_Mr Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr Weasley's resignation. _

"_Weasley had brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."_

_Mr Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wide told reporters to clear off or she's set the family ghoul on them. _

Briar's teeth gritted immediately and he hands were shaking slightly with anger when she handed the clipping back to Malfoy.

"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Very funny, of course it is" Briar said trying to school her angry expression as she gave a fake high pitched laugh.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave"

Briar could feel anger twisting inside of her so she clenched her fists in order to not show it. Ron, however, had Crabbe's faces contorted with fury.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.

"Stomach ache," Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy., snickering.

"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Profit hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I supposed trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never have let slime like that Creevey in"

Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but very accurate impression of Colin: "'Potter, can I have a picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"

He dropped his hands and looked at the three of them.

"What's the matter with you lot?"

Fare too late, Briar, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied. He probably just enjoyed the attention, late or not.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "The Potter are another family with no wizard feeling, been blood traitors for ever, the Potter twins are no different or they wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"

Briar, who had been almost shaking with rage when he went on about the Potter, waited with bated breath. Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him – but then:

"I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I couldn't help them."

Briar's shoulders slumped and Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately Malfoy didn't notice their reactions.

"You must have some idea who's behind it all-" Harry started quickly.

"-Yeah, you know everything around here" Briar finished adoringly.

She and Harry shared a glance when they realised they had just acted like the twins they are and forced themselves to relax under Malfoys confused look.

"You know I haven't, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "and father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing – last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time…I hope it's granger," he said with relish.

Briar clenched Parkinson's chubby fists at the mention of her only female friend, she counted Ginny as more of a sister anyway.

"We're they caught last time?" Briar asked as Harry shot Ron a warning look, both feeling it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched Malfoy.

"Oh, yeah…whoever it was, was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.

"The wizard prison" Briar explained automatically, her mind drifting to her Uncle Padfoot.

Malfoy was looking at Harry in disbelief, "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."

Malfoy shifted restlessly in his chair.

"Father says to keep my head down and let the hair of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?" Malfoy said.

Briar forced Parkinson's face into a look of concern.

"Yeah…" said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Art stuff. But luckily, we've got out own secret chamber under the drawing-room-floor-"

Briar resisted the urge to grin triumphantly, but Ron seemed unable to contain himself and said, "Ho!"

Malfoy looked at him. So did Briar and Harry. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was slowly lengthening – their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving her and Harry, they must be too.

The three of them jumped to their feet.

"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted.

Without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passageway, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything.

The robes were getting baggier on Briar and were becoming too shot. She could feel her hair lengthening down her back and the bangs by her face slowly disappearing.

They crashed up the steps into the dark entrance hall, and, after Ron and Harry ditched their shoes outside a closet which was full of muffled pounding from the real Crabbe and Goyle, they sprinted up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"I just turned into a Slytherin for absolutely no reason" Briar said, throwing off the green and silver tie in upmost disgust.

"Well, it wasn't a _complete _waste of time," Ron disagreed, closing the door behind them. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoy's drawing room."

Briar rushed over to the mirror and checked her face. Her messy black hair was back, her skin was pale, and her eyes a glinting hazel. She sighed in relief and ruffled her hair. Next to her Harry was relieve too, putting his glasses on.

Ron hammered on the door of Hermione's stall, saying, "Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you-"

"Go away!" Hermione squeaked.

Briar, Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"'Mione…are you okay?" Briar asked, her brows furrowed in concern.

"What's the matter?" added Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are"

Moaning Myrtle was suddenly gliding through the stall door, making the three of them jump. A grin was slitting apart her ugly face making Briar frown, she had never seen her looking so happy.

"Ooooooh, wait 'til you see," the ghost said cheerfully. "It's awful-"

They heard the lock slide back and the stall door opened. Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head, hiding her appearance.

"What's up?" said Ron as Briar eyed the ghost, who was still cackling, uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"

Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into Briar, whose mouth had fallen open in shock.

Hermione's face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking out through the hair.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

Briar bit her lip, reaching a hand up and wincing when Hermione's face felt just like Lavender's cat did. She was sure if the situation wasn't so severe she would have laughed.

"Uh-oh," said Ron.

"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.

"Maybe you can tell someone your mum's half cat or something" Briar tried to joke to lighten the mood, but winced when Hermione let out another sob.

"It's okay, Hermione," said Harry quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…"

It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom, she only conceded when Briar threatened to levitate her out. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw.

"Wait 'til everyone finds out you've got a tail!"


	25. The Very Secret Diary

Chapter Twenty Four

_The Very Secret Diary_

Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several weeks. There was a flurry of rumour about her disappearance when the rest of the school arrived back from their Christmas holidays, because of course everyone thought that she had been attack.

So many students filed past the hospital wing trying to catch a glimpse of her that Madam Pomfrey had to put curtains around her bed to save her the shame of being seen with a furry face. The only people other than She, Harry and Ron who knew what really happened was Lee and the twins, Briar having confided in them.

Briar, Harry and Ron went to visit Hermione every evening. When the new term started, they bought her each day's homework.

"If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work," said Ron, tipping a stack of books onto Hermione's bedside table one evening.

"Yeah, I'd be milking it for all it's worth" Briar agreed, putting more books on top of Ron's.

"Don't be silly, you two, I've got to keep up," said Hermione briskly.

Her spirits were greatly improved by the fact that all the hair had gone from her face and her eyes were turning slowly back to brown.

"I don't suppose you've got any new leads?" she added in a whisper, so that Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear.

"Nothing," said Harry gloomily.

"I was so sure it was Malfoy," said Ron, for about the hundredth time.

"I know I know what the monster is, all the pieces are there, I just can't put it together. I tried my book but the pages had been ripped out." Briar said, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

Briar looked toward where he was pointing and saw that something gold was sticking out from under Hermione's pillow.

"Just a get well card," said Hermione hastily.

She tried to poke it out of sight, but Ron was too quick for her. He pulled it out, flicked it open and read aloud:

"To miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award."

Briar's nose wrinkled and she looked up at Hermione in disgust.

"He gave you that you sleep with it under your pillow?" she asked incredulously. "I would sleep with it in the bin"

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement, looking at Hermione with similar expressions of distaste.

But Hermione was spared answering by Madam Pomfrey sweeping over with her evening dose of medicine.

"Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you've ever met, or what?" Ron said to Brair and Harry as they left the infirmary and started up the stair toward Gryffindor Tower.

As they were going up to the tower Harry and Ron were moaning about how much homework Snivillus had given them. Ron went on about how he wished he had asked Hermione how many rat tails you were supposed to add to a Hair Raising Potion, but the boys were relieved when Briar said they could copy off hers since she had already finished it.

Harry and Ron were just in the process of thanking her when an angry outburst from the floor above reached their ears.

"I know that form anywhere-" Briar started.

"-It's Filch" Harry finished in a mutter as they hurried up the stair and paused, out of sight, listening hard.

"You don't think someone else has been attacked?" said Ron tensely, making Briar bite her lip in worry.

They stood still, their heads inclined toward Filch's voice, which sounded almost as hysterical as when he caught her and the twins in the act. She was sure she and the Weasley twins were the git's boggart.

"-Even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do! No, this is the final straw, I'm going to Dumbledore-"

His footsteps receded along the out-of-site corridor and they heard a distant door slam.

They poked their heads around the corner. Filch had clearly been manning his usual lookout post: they were once again on the spot where Mrs Norris had been attacked. They saw at first glance what Filch had been shouting about. A great flood of water stretched over half the corridor, and it looked as though it was still seeping from under the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Now that Filch had stopped shouting, they could hear Myrtle's wails echoing off the bathroom walls.

"Now what's up with her?" said Ron.

"Who knows?" Briar scoffed. "She probably caught sight of her reflection or something. I'd cry too if I was going to look like that for eternity"

"Let's go and see," said Harry.

Holding their robes over their ankles they stepped through the great wash of water to the door bearing it's OUT OF ORDER sign, ignored it as always, and entered.

Moaning Myrtle was crying, if possible, louder and harder than ever before. She seemed to be hiding down her usual toilet.

It was dark in the bathroom because the candles had been extinguished in the great rush of water that had left both walls and floor soaking wet.

"What's up, Myrtle?" said Harry.

"Who's that?" glugged Myrtle miserably. "Come to throw something else at me?"

Harry waded across to her stall and said, "Why would I throw something at you?"

"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted, emerging with a wave of yet more water, which splashed onto the already sopping floor. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me…"

A bubble of laughter escaped Briar's lips but she smothered it when the ghost glared at her.

"But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you," said Harry, reasonably. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"

His words got a worse reaction than Briar's laughter had.

Myrtle puffed herself up and shrieked, "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don't think!"

"I don't know, I think it sounds good right now" Briar muttered lowly to Ron, who nodded in agreement, looking at the ghost with wide eyes.

"Who threw it at you, anyway?" asked Harry.

"I don't know…I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head," said Myrtle, glaring at them. "It's over there, it got washed out…"

Briar, Harry and Ron looked under the sink where Myrtle was pointing. A small, thin book lay there. It had a shabby black cover and was as wet as everything else in the bathroom. Briar and Harry stepped forward to pick it up, but Ron suddenly flung out an arm to hold them back.

"What?" said Briar and Harry simultaneously.

"Are you crazy?" said Ron. "It could be dangerous"

"Dangerous?" said Harry, laughing. "Come off it, how could it be dangerous?"

"You'd be surprised," said Ron, who was looking apprehensively at the book. "Some of the books the Ministry confiscated Dad's told me – there was one that burned your eyes out. And everyone who read sonnets of a Sorcerer spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives.

"Oh yeah" Briar said in realisation looking at the book the same way Ron had. "My Uncle Moony knew this witch in bath who had a book that you could never stop reading, she had to wander round with her nose in it, trying to do everything one handed" Briar shuddered at the idea.

The little book lay on the floor, nondescript and soggy.

"Well we won't find out unless we look at it," Harry said and he ducked around Ron and picked it up off the floor.

"If your eyes are burned out I will kill you" Briar threatened, looking at her twin and the book worriedly.

Briar looked over her brother's shoulder and saw that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told them it was fifty years old. Harry opened it and she flinched, but nothing happened. Looking down on the first page was the faded name, 'T . M . Riddle' in smudged ink.

Briar frowned, she knew that name somewhere…

"Hang on," said Ron, who was looking over Harry's other shoulder, a lot easier than she had considering he's not the same size as him, "I know that name…T . M . Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago."

Briar's mind clicked and she nodded in realisation. She had polished that so many times in the trophy room from the many detentions she had gotten from Filch.

"How on earth d'you know that?" said Harry in amazement.

"Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times in detention," said Ron resentfully. "That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you'd wiped slime off a name for an hour, you'd remember it too."

Harry peeled the wet pages apart. Briar looked at the diary expectantly but her shoulders slumped in disappointment when she saw that every page was completely blank.

"He never wrote in it," said Harry, just as disappointed as she was.

"I wonder why someone wanted to flush it anyway?" said Ron curiously.

Harry turned to the back cover of the book and Brair frowned, now that she was seeing it up close she knew she had seen it before. It was Ginny's diary, the one that she had been writing in but stayed completely blank.

"Maybe we should throw it away…" Briar said, if Ginny had tried to get rid of that book, maybe it should stay away, there was definitely something wrong about it, something dark.

"Why? It could be useful" Harry said dismissively. "He must've been a Muggle-born to have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road…"

"Well, it's not much use to you," said Ron before dropping his voice. "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose"

Harry however pocketed it.

"I really think we should get rid of it, it was…" Harry and Ron left and she sighed, biting her lips worriedly. "…Ginny's" she whispered, moving to exit the bathroom also.

Hermione left the hospital wing, de-whiskered, tailless, and fur-free, at the beginning of February. On her first evening back in Gryffindor Tower. While Harry and Ron wen to show her the diary, Briar instead went up to the first year dorms to talk to Ginny.

She found the youngest Weasley sitting on her bed. Her transfiguration homework was in front of her, but Ginny was just staring at it with an absent look on her face.

"Ginny?" Briar asked hesitantly.

Her voice seemed to shock Ginny out of her stupor and her head snapped over to look at her. Ginny was still looking a little worse for wear. There were bags under her eyes, her freckled face was pale and there was the tiniest tremor to her hands. It kind of reminded Briar how she was looking a few weeks after first year when she was still having nightmares of the cruciatus.

"Gin, are you okay?" she asked in an unusually motherly voice.

Ginny nodded shakily.

"I'm fine" she said and Briar didn't believe her.

"Can I ask you something?" Briar asked, sitting down next to Ginny on the bed. "It's about your diary"

As soon as the words left her mouth Ginny stiffened and, if it was possible, failed further. Ginny looked at her with wild, scared eyes. Briar documented every reaction, there was definitely something wrong with that book. But what?

"W-what d-diary? I d-don't-" Ginny stuttered, leaning away from Briar to put space between them.

Briar put a hand on Ginny's to stop her from legging it like she was sure she was tempted too.

"The black one" Briar said quietly.

Much to Briar's distress Ginny through herself at Briar in a hug and began to cry loudly. Briar hugged the smaller girl back and stroked her red hair comfortingly as her tears wet her neck.

"It was…so…awful, you don't…understand." Ginny cried through sobs.

"What don't I understand?" Briar asked quietly.

Ginny pulled away, her face splotchy and her eyes red. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"I wrote in the diary…and Tom wrote back." Ginny said meekly and Briar tensed, things like that were never good. "It was so nice at first, I don't normally have people to talk to with all my brother's, since they mainly just tease me"

Briar bit her lip guiltily, suddenly wishing she had spent more time with the girl over the summer.

"But then the attacks started…and I – and I- started getting gaps in my memory" Ginny began to cry again and Briar put her arm around her. "I think I'm the one who's been attacking people" she finished quietly, as though scared what Briar's reaction was going to be.

Briar pulled away and put her hands on Ginny's cheeks, wiping her tears away with her thumbs. She met Ginny's tearful brown eyes with her hazel firmly.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but this is not your fault, none of it is your fault." Briar said strongly.

Ginny nodded, but Briar was sure she was going to feel guilty anyway.

"I knew Harry should have thrown it away, I've got to-" Briar started, but Ginny cut her off.

"Harry's got it? You can't tell him! You can't tell him anything I said, Tom will tell him all my secrets!" Ginny burst out in alarm.

"Ginny-"

"No, Promise me, promise you want tell him!" Ginny said firmly.

Briar bit her lip worriedly, keeping this a secret wasn't a good thing. However, then she looked into Ginny's determined face and she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I…Promise" Briar said reluctantly and Ginny pulled her into another tight hug.

Sorting through everything Ginny had told her, Briar thought it was safe to assume that this Tom Riddle person was the heir of Slytherin and he had been using Ginny for the attacks. Her musings were only proved when the attacks stopped, clearly because Ginny no longer had the diary.

Harry was convinced that the heir of Slytherin just lost their nerve, Briar was sorely tempted to tell him what she knew, but the worst thing to do in her eyes is betray your friends, so she wasn't going to break her promise to Ginny.

Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff didn't take Harry's cheerful view. He was still convinced that Harry was the guilty one, that he had 'given himself away' at the duelling club. Much to her amusement, Peeves was popping up in crowded corridors singing "oh, Potter, you rotter…" now, under hers and Lee's suggestion, with a dance routine to match.

Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop. Briar and Harry had overheard him telling Minnie so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration.

"I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber had been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him."

"You know, what the school needs now it a morale-booster. Was away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the think…" he tapped his nose again and strode off.

Briar shared an alarmed look with Harry. If Lockhart had something planned, it wasn't going to be good…

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Briar walked down to breakfast with the twins. The twins grinning at their most recent torment of Percy.

"Think he'll be mad?" George asked.

"You just glued his Prefect's badge to the ceiling." Briar snorted. "Of course he will"

"Brilliant!" Fred and George said in sync.

Their grins were immediately wiped off of their faces when they entered the Great hall, their eyes widening in horror.

"What is this?" Briar breathed, looking around with wide eyes.

"It's a nightmare, Bambi, it's a nightmare." Fred stated.

"No, it's worse than a nightmare." George disagreed, looking slightly sick.

"It's valentine's day" the three of them said at the same time, horrified.

The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Briar moved to sit next to Lee, who was sitting looking sickened, and the twins sat opposite them.

"What's going on?" Fred asked Lee, still looking around the hall in the upmost disgust.

George and Briar looked at Lee questioningly as they wiped confetti off of their food.

Lee pointed toward the teachers' tale, apparently too disgusted to speak.

Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-face. Briar could see a muscle going in Minnie's cheek and Snivillus looked like he would rather admit James Potter was brilliant than be here.

"Happy Valentine's day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty sic people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all – and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly looking dwarves. Not just any dwarves, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be moving around the school today delivering Valentines!"

"You send me one of those, and I will dump you in a second" Briar muttered lowly to Lee.

"Well, it's a good thing I know you so well then isn't it." Lee said and gave her a box of Honeydukes chocolate.

Briar smiled, accepting the present, and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter the spirit of the occasion!" Lockhart continued, still beaming. "Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snivillus was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

All day long, the dwarves kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers. Briar was extremely annoyed having had at least twenty of them, each from a different person in the school. It seemed her popularity was going to be the death of her.

Late that afternoon, as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs to Charms, one of the dwarves caught up with Harry.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter!" shouted a particularly grim looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to Harry.

Her brother blushed and grabbed her elbow so that they could rush away, but was blocked by a line of first years, which happened to include Ginny. The dwarf however, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, and reached them before Harry could even drag her two paces.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said, twanging his harp in a threatening way.

"Not here," Harry hissed, still trying to escape.

"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, grabbing hold of Harry's baf and pulling him back, which in turn made Briar stumbled since he had a hold on her.

"Let him go!" Briar snarled as Harry tugged on his bag.

With a loud ripping noise, his bag split in too. His books, wand, parchment and quill spilled onto the floor and his ink bottle smashed over everything. Briar scrambled to help her twin pick up all his things, shoving them into her own bag, figuring she could just get Hermione to clean it later.

"What's going on here?" came the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.

Harry shot her an alarmed look and the two over them began to feverishly shove everything into Briar's bag.

"What's all this commotion?" said another familiar voice as Percy Weasley arrived.

"Just leg it" Briar hissed.

Harry moved to do just that but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor, making Briar wince.

"Right," he said, sitting on Harry's ankles. "Here is you singing Valentine: _His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord_"

Briar finally managed to yank her twin to his feet and Percy didn his best to disperse the crowd, some of whom were crying with mirth. She looked towards the first years and saw that Ginny was almost as red as her hair and she had a forlorn expression on her face.

"Gin, you didn't" Briar sighed as she approached the girl, no one over hearing due to the commotion over Harry.

"He hated it" Ginny sniffed sadly, her eyes filling with tears. "He's going to hate me"

Briar shrugged.

"A lot of that was because it happened so publically. I think you're just trying too hard" Briar told her, not denying that Harry hated it, because she was sure he had.

"This is awful. I'm such an embarrassment" Ginny said quietly.

"Ginny, don't worry no one is going to know it's you" Briar told her, patting her shoulder reassuringly.

"I supposed" sniffed Ginny.

Briar gave the girl what she hoped was a comforting smile before turning to make her way to charms, however in that moment, Malfoy turned, furious.

"I don't think Potter liked his valentine much!" he yelled as Ginny passed him to entre her classroom.

Ginny covered her gave with her hands and ran into class.

Snarling, she and Ron pulled out their wands to hex him in every way imaginable, but Harry pulled them away.

When they got to charms Briar spent the majority of the lesson sifting through Harry's things and Flitwick kindly taught her a cleaning charm ("Scourgify") so that she could sort out all of his things and Hermione repaired his ripped bag.

In the Dormitory that night Briar found it amusing as the twins sang "his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" over and over again, before it caused Harry to retire to his dormitories early and Briar hit them over the head to get them to stop.

A moment later Briar went up to the second year boys' dormitory to check on her brother. She frowned in confusion when he saw that he was lying on his bed, out of breath, sweating and shaking.

"Harry, are you okay?" Briar asked in concern, rushing over as he sat up.

"It was Hagrid, Bambi. Hagrid opened the chamber of Secrets fifty years ago"

Briar eyes widened in shock.

"What?" she gasped, before snorting in disbelief. "Where in the name of Merlin did you get that idea form.

Harry began to explain to her about going into Riddle's diary and everything he saw. Her twin though that Hagrid probably did it on accident, never meaning to kill someone but just wanting to help out the monster.

"-That's what Riddle got the award for" Harry finished, gloomily.

Briar bit her lip, she wanted to tell him that it was all Riddle, that he framed Hagrid, but she couldn't do that without breaking her promise to Ginny.

"Harry, I've met Aragog-"

"Aragog?" he asked in confusion.

"The spider. He lives in the forest, he wouldn't be able to petrify people" Briar explained.

"But Riddle-"

"Harry, Lockhart has gotten loads of awards and if he deserved any of them I will eat my hooves. Harry, he could've been wrong" Briar said, trying to hint towards the truth.

Harry frowned and seemed to think about the words, but Briar was sure he wasn't convinced.


	26. Petrified Hermione

Chapter Twenty Five

_Petrified Hermione_

Now that it had been almost four months since the last attack, everyone seemed to have calmed down. Peeves got bored of his song and Ernie Macmillan even asked Harry quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day.

In march several of the mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made professor Sprout very happy.

"The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," she said. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing."

The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter Holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for third year, a matter that Hermione, as least, took very seriously.

"It could affect our whole future," she told Briar, Harry and Ron as they poured over lists of new subjects, marking them with ticks.

"I just want to drop Potions," said Harry.

"We can't, said Ron gloomily. "We keep all of our old subjects, or I'd have ditched Defence Against the Dark Arts"

"But that's very important!" said Hermione, shocked.

"Yeah, but not with the teachers we've have" Briar scoffed.

"Definitely not the way Lockhart teaches it," said Ron. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose"

Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from all the witches and wizards in his family, al giving him different advice on what to choose. Confused and worried, he sat reading the subject lists with his tongue pocking out.

Dean Thomas, who didn't really understand most of the subjects since he was muggle-born ended up closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list and then picking the subjects it landed on. Hermione took nobodies advice but her own and signed up for everything.

Briar had decided to go with Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, deciding they were the most interesting.

Harry and Ron ended up with the same subjects, deciding that if they were bad at them they would at least be lousy together. They chose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.

Quidditch training sessions were getting better, or at least drier, and the evening before Saturday's match Harry had gone to stash his broomstick in the dormitories and had come back down to say that his stuff had been trashed and the diary stolen.

Briar wasn't sure if it was a good thing since it wouldn't be with her twin anymore or bad because it could have gotten into the wrong hands.

Harry having heard the voice again seemed to have set Hermione off and she shouted that she had figured something out before dragging Briar off to the Library with her.

Hermione was trying to kill her with books, she was sure she was. She had read so many books in the past hour that the words were starting to blur together. She was even getting bored of reading about Magical creatures. Hermione said that she finally understood what had been niggling at Briar, but until they found it Hermione wouldn't tell her, just like usual.

She left Hermione to look alone when she stopped even reading the books, just flipping through them lazily. On her way back to Gryffindor tower, just as usual when she was on her own, one of the twin was waiting for her.

"Hey, Bambi" this time it was Fred , he must have noticed her unusually glum expression as he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm pretty sure Hermione just tried to kill me with books. She should be glad I didn't burn them, allowing them to live to torment others" Briar sighed over dramatically making Fred crack a grin.

"Want to sneak into Hogsmeade?" Fred asked and Briar only grinned in response.

The trip to Hogsmeade was unusually silent. There was tension crackling in the air between them that Briar couldn't understand. Before now everything was always perfectly comfortable and it still was with George, so what was going on with Fred?

They were pleased when they emerged into The Three Broomsticks to see that the bar was closed, and both grinning mischievously, they decided to steal a bottle of firewhiskey, something Rosmerta never allowed them to have.

"What else do you reckon is behind the bar?" Briar asked with a grin and she moved to root through all the draws.

She was amused to see that she found an entire draw filled with makeup that she supposed belonged to Madam Rosmerta.

She laughed and moved to pour herself another firewhiskey before she frowned, shaking the bottle slightly, realising it was empty, but she had only had one glass.

"Hey, Fred, what happened to the-" she cut herself off.

Fred had fallen off of his stool when he turned to look at her and was now lying on the floor. His face was flushed, his red hair in disarray and he was laughing madly.

She sighed. She knew where all the firewhiskey went now.

"Hey Bambi, why you upside down?" Fred slurred as he tilted his head back to look at her.

Briar laughed, shaking her head.

"You're an idiot" She chuckled. "come on, you great git"

Briar moved to pull Fred to his feet and put his arm around her shoulders so that she could lead him back through the passageway after leaving some money on the counter.

Fred buried his face in her hair as they stumbled forward down the passageway.

"You're hair smells like lavender" Fred muffled voice came.

Briar shivered when she felt his voice one his neck, but just shook her head in response. Suddenly she came to a stop when she heard a terrible crumbling noise, making Fred stumble even more than before.

"Fred, did you here that?" Briar asked in concern, looking about the passageway.

"No" Fred muttered.

Briar wasn't convinced nothing happened and continued to look down the passageway curiously. When she finally saw where the noise had come from. The passageway was crumbling, rocks falling down behind them and the destruction was getting closer and closer.

"Fred, quick, run!" she yelled.

She grabbed her friend by the hand and began to pull him as hard as she could as she ran faster than she had ever ran down the passage.

When they finally emerged into the Hogwarts corridor, she let out a relieved sigh, clutching at her chest as it began to hurt from lack of oxygen and her heart was pounding hard. She was saddened to see that the secret passageway had completely passed, however when she shared a glance with Fred she couldn't help but began to laugh with him at the adventure.

"Come on" Briar laughed, slinging Fred's arm around her shoulders again.

She dragged him, stumbling, up to the Gryffindor tower, carefully avoiding any prefects or staff roaming around and shushing him whenever he began to sing random songs or laugh at nothing at all.

"There, now just go up to the dorms" Briar said as they finally stopped in the deserted common room.

Fred tilted his head and looked at her with a weird expression on his drunken face. Briar was about to ask what was wrong when she was cut off by Fred's lips meeting hers. His lips were soft and he tasted of firewhiskey. Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Just as she was about to return the kiss she remembered herself and gently pushed him away.

"Sorry" Fred muttered.

"It's okay, you're drunk" Briar said dismissively as she forced a smile.

She doesn't see the disappointment on his face when he turned and stumbled his way up to the boys dorms.

Once he had left her sight, she couldn't help but raise her fingertips to her tingling lips with a small smile recalling the feeling of his mouth against hers. Her eyes suddenly widened at her thoughts and she wiped his taste from her lips. She shook herself out of it, she's with Lee and if there was one thing she would never be, it was disloyal.

When Briar finally went to bed, her mind was so filled with wonderings about the kiss that she didn't notice Hermione's bed was empty.

The next morning Briar and Harry, clutching their brooms, joined the large crowd swarming across the grounds. Everyone was outside to watch the Quidditch game and Briar was feeling giddy that something was finally happening that she could make sense off. Quidditch she could do.

The teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause. Oliver Wood took off for a warm-up flight around the goal posts; Madam Hooch released the balls. The Hufflepuffs, who played in canary yellow, were standing in a huddle, having a last-minute discussion of tactics.

She was just mounting her broom with her fellow chasers when Minnie came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.

Briar's heart dropped like a stone. There had been another attack. She just knew it.

"This match has been cancelled," Minnie called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium.

There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran towards Minnie without getting off his broomstick.

"But Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play – the cup – Gryffindor-"

Minnie ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone: "All students are to make their way back to the house common rooms, where their heads of house will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please"

Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Briar and Harry over to her.

"Mr and Miss Potter, I think you'd better come with me…"

Briar shared a bewildered looking with Harry, wondering if something of his had been caught at yet another attack. Ron detached himself from the complaining crowd; he came running up to them as they set off toward the castle. Briar and Harry looked at each other in surprise when Minnie didn't object.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come too, Weasley…"

Some of the students around the were grumbling about the matched being cancelled; others looking worried. Briar, Harry and Ron followed Minnie back into the school and up the marble staircase, but they weren't going to anyone's office this times.

"This will be a bit of a shock," said Minnie in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There had been another attack…another double attack."

Briar's stomach felt like it was suddenly filled with stones. Minnie wouldn't call them to see unless…no, no no….

Minnie pushed the door open and Briar, Harry and Ron entered. Madam Pomfrey was bending over a fifth year girl with long, curly hair and next to her was…

"Hermione!" Ron groaned.

Hermione was lying utterly still, her eyes open and glassy.

"They were found near the library last night," said Minnie. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them…"

She was holding up a small, circular mirror.

Harry and Ron shook their head, but Briar was too busy looking wide-eyed at Hermione to even respond.

"I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower," said Minnie heavily. "I need to address the students in any case."

"Can I stay with her?" Briar asked shakily.

"Miss Potter, I don't think-" Minnie cut herself off when Briar looked up at her with pleading teary eyes and she sighed. "I suppose"

Once the three of them left Briar sat down heavily next to Hermione, blinking back tears. When she reached a hand out to stroke her friend's cheek, the skin was cold and the tears fell down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry" Briar cried, burying her face into Hermione's side.

If she had just stayed at the Library with Hermione, maybe it wouldn't have happened, or maybe it would have at least been her attacked rather than Hermione. She hated seeing her eyes so glassy. It reminded her so badly of her mum's glassy green eyes staring up at the ceiling from the Avada Kadavra.

When Madam Pomfrey finally got her to leave the Hospital wing she went up to the boys dorm to share a bed with her twin. She needed to be with family right now and she didn't want to see Hermione's empty bed lest she start crying again.

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and like alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers as large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But with Hagrid having been sent off to Azkaban for a crime Briar knew he didn't commit and Hermione in the hospital wing, it just seemed so wrong that the days were so nice.

Briar, Harry and Ron had tried to visit Hermione again, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finished these people off…"

With Dumbledore also having been removed from the school, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face at the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

People seemed to move around in packs now and they were being shepherded to class by teachers. Fred and George were being even more protective of her, sticking to her like glue, now only letting her got to the toilet in the dormitories.

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed head boy. Briar and Harry didn't realise what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, wen, sitting right behind Malfoy, Briar and Harry overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in…"

Snivillus swept past the Potter twin, making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snivillus, though he couldn't suppress a thin lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough"

"The day Snivillus becomes Headmaster is the day I'm in my grave" Briar muttered to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job – I'll tell father you're the best teacher here , sir-"

Snivillus smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger-"

Briar felt white hot anger sear through her veins and the only thing keeping her from attacking him was Harry's calming hand on her arm. The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky, as Ron wasn't able to rein in his anger and had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

"Let me at him," Ron growled as Dean hung onto his arms and Harry hung onto Briars. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands-"

"Well I have my wand, and I have read many spells that I can't even do so I would love to see what happens when I try…" Briar spat, glaring fiercely at the back of Malfoys head.

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snivillus over the classes' heads, and off they marched.

The Herbology class was very subdued; there were now two missing from their number, Justin and Hermione.

When they were all seated in the DADA room, Lockhart bounded in the room and the class stared at him. Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant.

"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?

People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered.

"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart, speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim, "The danger had passed, the culprit has been taken away-"

Briar scoffed.

"Says who?" said Dean Thomas loudly.

"Mr dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred per cent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, in the tone of someone explaining that one and one made two.

"Oh, yes he would," said Briar even more loudly than Dean, beating Ron to it.

She wasn't just thinking about Hagrid, she was thinking about her Uncle Padfoot. Her uncle Moony had told her the full story when she was younger and was begging to visit him in Azkaban, but even now she still wished it wasn't true.

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Miss Potter," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone.

Ron started to say that he didn't think so, somehow, but stopped in midsentence when Harry kicked him hard under the desk.

"We weren't there, remember?" she heard Harry mutter to him.

But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated her and Harry so much that her twin wanted to throw Gadding with Ghouls into his face and Briar wanted to use Ron's wand to see what the broken thing could do to him.

The next day, Harry and Ron told her the full story of what happened when they followed the spiders, which explained what had happened to Lee's tarantula, which had been missing for the past few months. She couldn't believe Aragog ordered his children to kill Harry and Ron, he would be getting a talking to next time she saw him.

As they were walking to Transfiguration a thought seemed to occur to Harry.

"Ron, Bambie – that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom," said Harry. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

Briar sighed.

"I can't believe it" she sighed in annoyance as she understood what he was implying. "Moaning Myrtle"

"All those times we were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away," said Ron bitterly as they took their seats in Transfiguration. "And we could've asked her, and now…"

Briar nodded, understanding what he meant. it would be nearly impossible to escape the teachers long enough to escape to a bathroom, the bathroom that was right next to the scene of the first attack.

Ten minutes into class, Minnie told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today. She couldn't believe that with everything happening they were still holding exams. It was ridiculous!

"Exams?" howled Seamus Finnigan. "We're still getting exams?"

There was a loud bang behind Briar as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk. Minnie restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus.

"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said sternly. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard."

Briar shared a glance with Harry and Ron. While worrying about everything that was going on, studying had been the last thing on their minds. There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around the room, which made Minnie scowl even more darkly.

"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible," she said. "And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learn this year."

Briar looked down at the pair of slippers in front of her that she had transfigured from rabbits. She was sure she would do fine in the tests, but she felt guilt swirling in her stomach again at the fact that Hermione wouldn't be able to take them.

Harry looked down at the white rabbits he had yet to transfigure and Ron looked as though he'd just been told he had to go and live in the Forbidden Forest.

"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" he asked her and Harry, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly.

Three days before their first exam, Minnie made another announcement at breakfast.

"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully.

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl at the Ravenclaw table.

"Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Oliver excitedly.

When the hubbub had subsided, Minnie said, "Professor Spout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit"

There was an explosion of cheering and Briar joined in happily, pleased it wouldn't be long until Hermione was back.

Ron was looking happier than she had in days.

"It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" he said to her and Harry. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is until they're over."

Just then, Ginny came over and sat down next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous and her hands were twisting in her lap.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Briar asked hurriedly, wondering if there had been yet another attack that Ginny knew about, had she gotten the diary back? Was it her who stole it off Harry?

Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face.

"Spit it out," said Ron, watching her.

"I've got to tell you something," Ginny mumbled, carefully not looking at Harry.

Briar's eyes widened when she realised that Ginny was finally coming clean about everything and she sent the younger girl a reassuring look, nodding encouragingly.

"What is it?" said Harry.

Ginny opened and closed her mouth a few times, but it seemed in her nervousness she wasn't sure how to say it.

"What?" said Ron.

Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Harry leaned forward and spoke quietly so that only Ginny, Briar and Ron could hear him.

"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?"

Ginny shot a look at Briar and she nodded, silently telling her to explain everything. Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty"

Briar sighed in annoyance, glaring at him. Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. Briar hopped up and quickly ran to catch up with her as Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the centre of the table.

She frowned as she got out of the Great Hall and couldn't see Ginny anywhere. Briar pulled the marauders map from her pocket, tapped it with her wand saying "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" and hurriedly searched the map for sight of Ginny.

She was confused to see that the girl was making her way towards Moaning Myrtles bathroom and quickly sprinted in the same direction, stuffing her map and wand back in her pocket.

"Ginny!" Briar called as she saw the girl walking down the corridor toward the bathroom.

Ginny didn't respond, didn't even act like she had seen her.

"Ginny, wait, what are you doing?" Briar panted, out of breath from all the running.

The red headed girl finally turned and the last thing Briar saw was her hazy brown eyes, a raised wand and then she was falling down into blackness.


	27. The Chamber of Secrets

Chapter twenty six

_The Chamber of Secrets_

When Briar came too it was to find herself slumped against a damp wall on an even damper floor, covered in slime. She hopped to her feet quickly, holding her hand to her head as it began to spin. Once her vision had cleared to looked around wildly.

Her robes were covered in the same slime that was one the walls and floor and was standing a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. she immediately began to look for an exit, but found there were only two directions to go through.

The first was to her left and was a large pipe large enough for a man to fit into, but was tilted sharply upwards, the other was just the continuation of the tunnel. She must be miles under the school, under the lake if the slime was anything to go by.

She bit her lip, staring at the darkness ahead, before she put her hand in her robes to pull out her wand.

"Lumos!" Briar muttered to her wand and the tip of ti lit up.

She cautiously began to walk down the tunnel, her footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor. The tunnel was so dark that she could only see a little distance ahead. Her shadow on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight.

The tunnel was quiet as a grave, and Briar as disgusted to see that the floor was littered with small animal bones.

Her wandlight lit up the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. She froze in fear, her breath hitching, it wasn't moving, but that didn't mean it wasn't alive. He heart was beating so fast it hurt.

Very slowly, she stepped closer and lifter her wand higher.

The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. Whatever snake had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.

"Basilisk, of course" Briar breathed and was kicking herself for not putting it together earlier.

That had been the creature in the ripped out page of her book. It is able to petrify people in reflections, able to kill people with a glance, spiders flee from it…it all fit. How had she not put this together?

Briar felt tingles erupt over her boy as she morphed into her animagus form. She didn't know why but she felt much safer as a doe, perhaps it was because her hearing and sight was better, or maybe because she could run fast.

Her hooves made faint clip-clopping noises as she crept down the tunnel. She wanted the tunnel to end, the anticipation was terrifying her, but at the same time she wasn't sure what she would find at the end.

She crept around another bed, but saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. She was in the chamber of secrets. She looking around with wide eyes but could see nothing but stone and the way she came from, it appeared to be a dead end.

A sudden crashing sound from back in the tunnel reached her heightened ears and her head snapped behind her, her ears perked up as she tried to hear more sound.

The faint murmuring of voices. She took off at a sprint in the direction she came from her four powerful legs carrying her quickly down the dark tunnel.

When she finally skidded to a stop it was to see Harry in front of large pile of rocks that was blocking the rest of the tunnel.

Harry raised his wand and Briar froze, however, he seemed to freeze when he saw her and lowered his wand.

"Bambi?" Harry asked in surprise.

Skin erupted where animal hide was as she transformed into herself. As soon as she did Harry rushed at her and pulled her into a tight hug and Briar hugged back just as tightly.

"Bambi, thank Merlin, I thought you were- you were…" Harry seemed unable to finish his sentence and when he pulled back his green eyes were glistening with tears.

"What's going on?" Ron's muffled voice came from the other side of the solid wall of broken rock.

"I've found Bambi!" Harry shouted and Briar pretended she didn't see him discretely wipe his damp cheeks from tears that had fallen.

"Great! Is Ginny with her?!" Ron called half part relief and half part worry.

"Ginny? Ginny's down here?" Briar asked, her head snapping in Harry's direction.

"Yeah…haven't you seen her?" said Harry in concern.

Briar shook her head, biting her lips with worry.

"She's not with her, we'll have to find her!" Harry called back to Ron.

"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through – it'll take ages…"

Briar looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. Briar was sure that if she tried to break apart the rocks the whole tunnel would come down on them and they'd be screwed.

There was a thud and an "Ow!" from behind the rocks.

"What was that?" Briar asked.

"Ron kicking Lockhart. It turns out he had done nothing in his book and just oliviated the people who actually did it. He was going to obliviate us but Ron's wand backfired and the ceiling came down and Lockhart lost his memory" Harry explained.

"Serves the git right" Briar scoffed.

Briar looked back down the tunnel worriedly, wondering where Ginny could be, she had been down the whole tunnel. They were losing time.

"Wait here!" Briar shouted to Ron.

Harry nodded to her in agreement.

"Wait with Lockhart!" he twin called. "We'll go on…if we're not back in an hour…"

There was a very pregnant pause.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can – can get back through. And, Harry, Briar-"

"See you in a bit," said Briar and Harry in sync, both trying to inject some confidence into their shaking voices.

They set back through the tunnel in the direction that they'd come from. Briar told him about the dead end, but apparently they open with Parseltongue, so Harry just needed to open it.

A while later she was back at the solid wall covered with the entwined serpents with the emerald eyes.

Harry shot her a nervous look and she responded with a very shaky reassuring grin.

Harry approached slowly. He cleared his throat and Briar swore she saw the emerald eyes flicker, but she was hoping it was a trick of the light because they looked scarily real.

Harry opened his mouth and a faint hiss emitted from his lips as he spoke to the stone snakes.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sigh, and Briar and Harry, shaking from head to foot and holding hands tightly, walked inside.

They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.

Her heart was beating very fast and she wondered if Harry could hear it in the chill silence. She looked around wildly for any sign of the basilisk, but couldn't see any.

They both pulled out their wands and Briar felt nervous as they disconnected their hands, and they moved between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following them. More than once she shifted closer to Harry, sure that she saw one stir.

Then, as they drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.

They had to crane their necks to look up into the giant face above. It was ancient and monkey-ish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor…

…and in-between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair.

"Ginny" Briar muttered and without further thought, Briar sprinted toward her figure.

Harry was right at her side and they both dropped to their knees next to her. They flung their wands aside as they grabbed Ginny and turned her over, chanting "don't be dead – don't be dead…" Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified.

"Ginny, please wake up," Briar mutter, tears falling down her cheeks as Harry shook her desperately. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

"She won't wake," said a soft voice.

Briar jumped up to her feet to face the voice, while Harry spun around on his knees.

A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though she was looking at him through Harry's glasses.

"Tom – Tom Riddle?" Harry asked.

Briar tensed at the name, knowing full well that he was the one who was behind all this. Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes of Harry face and it scared her at the attention he was giving Harry, so she stepped in front of him.

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" she demanded.

Riddle looked at her curiously scanning her face and Briar swore he could see right through her, and she hated it.

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just"

Briar stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen.

"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly, being on the same wavelength as she was.

"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty year."

He pointed toward the floor near the giant statue's toes. Lying open there was the little black diary that Ginny was so terrified. Now she knew why, top wasn't just writing back…he was coming back.

"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry said raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here…"

Briar paid no mind to what Harry was saying to Riddle as he hosted Ginny half of the floor. She was instead looking for her wand, but she couldn't seem to find it.

"Where are our-?" she cut herself off.

Lookin up. Riddle's eyes were back on Harry – twirling their wands between his long fingers. She gritted her teeth, knowing that they now had no way to defend themselves against the heir.

"Thanks," said Harry, stretching out his hand for the wands.

A smile curled at the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wands idly and Briar wanted nothing more than to smack that smug look off of his face.

"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. "We've got to go!" if the basilisk comes-"

"It won't come until it's called," said Riddle calmly.

Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, clearly unable to hold her up any longer.

"What d'you mean?" he said. "Look, give us our wands, we mind need them-"

Riddle's smile broadened.

"You won't be needing them," he said.

Briar clenched her fists and glared at him with the utmost loathing, while her twin, still not understanding, just stared at him in confusion.

"What d'you mean, we won't be-?"

"Oh, Harry don't you see," Briar spoke finally, gaining both of their attention. "That diary, his diary, had been controlling Ginny for so long, and know it's making you believe it's lies. Hagrid never opened the chamber" she glared at Riddle. "He did."

Harry was now looking at Riddle with new eyes, half scare half suspicious.

"What are you saying?" he asked slowly, scarcely able to believe it.

"She's saying that I am the heir of Slytherin" Riddle said with that stupid grin on his face again. "I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter. For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

"How did Ginny get like this?" Briar demanded angrily, she swore Ginny had gotten even paler, if that were even possible.

"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" said Harry.

"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes – how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second hand robes, how she was scared Briar Rose Potter would tell her twin brother she had a crush on him, how" Riddle's eyes glinted "how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…"

All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. Briar hated the almost hungry look that resided in them when he looked at her twin.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven year old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom…I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in…it's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…"

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that did suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Briar's neck. She had heard that laugh before. But where…?

"If I say it myself, Briar, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted…I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful that little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"

"What d'you mean?" said Harry, it was seeming to dawn on him what Briar had said was true with each passing second.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the chamber of secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the squibs cat."

"No," Harry whispered.

"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have read her diary entries…fare more interesting, they became…dear Tom," he recited watching Briar's and Harry's identical faces look horrified, "I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got pain all down my font. Dear Tom, Briar keeps asking if I'm alright. I think she suspects me…there was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad…I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!"

Briar's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into her palms as she clenched her jaw.

"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…"

"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry and Briar could feel his anger as easily as she could feel her own coursing through her.

"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history."

Briar tensed further when his eyes roved over the lightening scar on her brother's forehead and his expression grew hungrier.

"I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf Hagrid to gain your trust-"

"But you framed him, you were playing everyone, pretending to be this great hero when in truth it was you all along" Briar spat, her voice shaking with rage.

Riddle laughed his high laugh again.

"It was my word against Hagrid's, Briar. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student…on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Sorest to wrestle trolls…but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realise that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the chamber of secrets and discover the secret entrance…as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! Only the transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed…Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did…"

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry through gritted teeth.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it would be safe to open the chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen year old self in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was petrified will be alright again-"

"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been – you"

Briar's breath hitched as Harry stared at Riddle. She put her hand on her twins shoulder in an almost bruising grip. As though if she kept a hold of him she could keep him from being taken from her.

"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. Briar told her you had the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling the roosters? So the foolish brat waited until you dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's air and Ginny had gone and told Briar almost everything."

"From everything Ginny told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery – particularly if one of your best friends was attacked and your twin taken. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…so I made Ginny write hers and Briar's farewell on the wall and bring you sister down here to wait. Ginny struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her…she put too much into the diary, into me. enough to let me leave its pages at last…I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" Harry spat, fists still clenched.

"Well," said Riddle pleasantly, "how is it that you a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent – managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

There was an oddly familiar red gleam in his hungry eyes now.

"Why do you care what happened that day?" Briar demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"Voldemort was after your time…" Harry added slowly.

"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter…"

He pulled out Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words: TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves: I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.

Briar tensed. The red eyes, the high laugh, they were things that she had trapped in the darkest part of her subconscious, only to re-emerge in her worst nightmares.

"You see?" Riddle whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother' side? I, keep the name of a foul, common muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Briar stared at Riddle. The orphaned boy who had grown up to rein terror upon the whole wizard community, murdering and torturing innocent people…including Briar and Harry's parents, their aunt Marlene and Aunt Dorcas….

"You're not," she said, her quiet voice full of hatred.

"Not what?" snapped Riddle.

"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world. You're just a sad little boy with daddy issues so you took it out on the rest of the world as though that would earn you respect!" Briar shouted angrily and Riddle's eyes flashed red.

"Sorry to disappoint you and all that," added Harry, breathing fast "but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days-"

Riddle's eyes flashed again and there was a very ugly look on his face.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed.

"Dumbledore will never be gone from this school, not ever!" Briar retorted with an angry snarl.

Riddle opened his mouth, but froze.

Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spin tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Briar's scalp and made her heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that she could feel it vibrating inside her own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.

A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talon, which were gripping a ragged bundle.

A second later, the bird was flying straight as Briar and Harry. It dropped the ragged bundle at Harry's feet, then landed heavily on Briar's shoulder. As it folded it's great wings, the twins looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye.

The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Briar's cheeks, gazing steadily at Riddle.

"That's a phoenix" said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.

"Fawkes?" Harry breathed and Briar felt the bird's golden claws squeeze her shoulder gently.

"And that-" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped. "That's the old school Sorting Hat-"

So it was. Patched, frayed and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet. Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once.

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defenders! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry and Briar Potter? Do you feel safe now?"

Briar just glared at him. If Dumbledore had sent them these then they were important, they would help, if not in the way they would expect. Dumbledore is brilliant, mad, but brilliant nevertheless and if he had a plan, then it would work.

As though sense her thoughts, Fawkes squeezed her shoulder again.

"To business, Harry," said Riddle, still smiling broadly. "Twice – in your past, in my future – we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you and your sister stay alive"

Briar stared at Riddle, they may live longer by talking long, but that didn't apply to Ginny. Riddle's outline was becoming clearer and more solid, meaning more life was dwindling out of Ginny.

"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself but I know why you couldn't kill me, because my common Muggleborn mother stopped you killing me"

"Does that make you feel better?" Briar asked, her voice shaking with suppressed rage. "That you were stopped by a 'Mudblood' that you were supposed to destroy? We've seen the real you. You're a wreck, you're barely alive. That's were all you power got you. You're in hiding, like a coward!"

Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile.

"So, you mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now…there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike…but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. that's all I wanted to know."

"He is nothing like you" Briar spat, but Riddle's twisted smile was widening again.

"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Happy Potter, his twin sister and the best weapon Dumbledore can give them…"

He cast an amused eye over at Fawkes and the sorting hat, then walked away. Fear was twisting in every inch of her as she watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness.

Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed. Harry wheeled around to look at the statue so Briar did this same, Fawkes swaying on her shoulder.

Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horror-struck, Briar saw his mouth opened, wider and wider to make a huge black whole. And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something slithering up from its depths.

She grabbed Harry's hand and yanked him backwards until they hit the dark chamber wall. The twins shared a glance before they both shut their eyes tight preparing for the basilisk. Briar felt Fawkes' wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. She felt even more scared without the phoenix's presence and gripped Harry's hand tighter in response.

Something huge hit the stone floor of the chamber. Briar felt it shudder – she knew what was happening, she could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth.

She then heard Riddle give a hiss and she could only guess that he had told the basilisk to finish them off.

The basilisk was moving towards her and Harry; she could hear it's heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes, still tightly shut Briar began to run blindly sideways, pulling Harry with her. She tried to ignore Voldemort's laughing in her ears.

Harry tripped and fell hard onto the stone floor. Briar tied desperately to help him up but suddenly his hand was yanked from hers and she could hear him smash into a wall. She bit her lip as she could hear the snake hissing and moving again.

She would risk it, she would risk anything for Harry.

She opened her eyes.

The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between pillars towards Harry.

She began to run and in mid stride she shifted into her animagus form, galloping towards Harry as fast as her four legs could take her, she had to get to him before the basilisk.

Bambi could hear mad hiss and something thrashing wildly off the pillars. Stopping she turned and saw that Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs as long and thin as sabres.

Bambi continued to run towards Harry and nudged him with her nose, trying to get him to get up. Harry opened her eyes and looked at her. He lay a hand on her strong shoulder and pulled himself up and looked towards the basilisk.

Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snakes tail thrashed, narrowly missing Briar and Harry, and before they could close their eyes, it turn – looking straight into its face, Bambi saw that both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix, blood streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

Bambi shifted back into Briar and gripped Harry's hand tightly as she heard Riddle hissing loudly and furiously at the basilisk as though yelling at it.

The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.

"Help me, help me," Harry muttered wildly, "someone – anyone-"

Briar hated seeing her twin so desperate and she need to help, could feel the need burning deep inside of her. That's when she saw it, a little way into the distance near the basilisks tail, was the sorting hat.

She carefully detached her hand from Harry and took off at a run toward the snake, ignoring Harry trying to get her to come back and trying to make her footfalls as light as possible. She slowly when she neared the snake, her heart beating harder than ever and her hands shaking with fear.

She was hoping against hope that the serpents own blood would mask her scent and Fawkes' song would muffle its hearing.

Briar reached forward with a shaking hand, but the snake's tail whipped across the floor again. She ducked to the ground, paying no mind that her front was now covered in the basilisk's dark blood. The snake was moving toward Harry now.

She reached wildly, her fingertips brushed the fabric of the hat, but she was gripping something else. She yanked and out of the sorting hat, she pulled a gleaming silver sword, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

Turning, she saw the basilisk's head falling, it's body coiling around, narrowly missing her as it his pillars and twisted to face her twin. The moth was stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs as long as the sword in her hand, thin, glittering, venomous-

"HARRY, CATCH!" Briar screamed to her twin, gaining his attention.

She threw the sword as hard as she could and Harry caught it, stumbling slightly. The snake lunged blindly and Briar's breathing hitched. Harry threw his whole wait behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the serpent's mouth.

Briar ran towards her twin again as warm blood drenched Harry's arms. She laughed in relief as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell and she finally reached her twin, but it was short lived. One long, poisonous fang had sunk into his arm.

Harry fell backwards into her, taking them both to the ground. Harry was sitting between her legs, his head tilted back on her shoulder, and she had reached her hands around him to yank the fangs from his arm and try to put pressure on the wound.

"No, no, no, you can't do this to me" Briar muttered, tears falling down her face as she kissed Harry's temple and buried her head in his head, rocking them slightly.

She was wrong when she thought nothing could be worse than last year. She would gladly suffer a thousand crucios if it meant that wasn't Harry's blood soaking her hands and robs right now. Holding Harry in her arms as he got paler and paler, his green eyes blurry, was her worst nightmare. It was like she was watching her whole world fall apart and she could do absolutely nothing to stop it.

"You can't do this to me Harry, I need you" she cried.

"I know, I love you" Harry whispered back making her cry harder, her tears wetting his neck as his blood wet her hands.

"I love you too" Briar sobbed, holding him tight.

Briar saw a patch of scarlet in the corner of her eyes as she landed next to her and Harry with a soft clatter of claws.

"Fawkes," said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes…"

The bird nudged Briar hands away from Harry's wound and she did as she was told. Fawkes lay his beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced Harry.

She could hear echoing footsteps and she looking up from Fawkes to see that Riddle was looming over them.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

Briar looked down and saw that thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers. Her breath hitched, but this time in relief and a tiny smile appeared on her face. She had read about Phoenix many times…and their tears heal.

Harry leaned against her heavier than before and she had to use all her strength to keep them sitting.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle smugly. "And your twin is here to watch it, just like she should have been when you first defeated me. But now you are defeated at last by the Dark Lord you so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry…she bought you twelve years of borrowed time…but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…"

Briar felt white hot rage tear through her body and she wanted nothing more than to tear Tom Riddle apart piece by piece. She moved away from Harry and seized the fang that had pierced him and leapt to her feet to run further down the chamber.

"What you doing, you foolish girl? You've lost, there's nothing more you can do!" Riddle called with that terrible high laugh.

She swept up Riddle's diary and turned to face the memory of Lord Voldemort with a small smirk.

"I can do lots of things, and for Harry, I can do anything" she told him and without further thought she jabbed the basilisk fang straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Briar's bloody hands and flooding the floor. Briar got a kind of sick pleasure from seeing Riddle writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing…and then, just suddenly, he was gone.

Briar and Harry's wand fell to the ground with a clatter. Still gripping the diary with the basilisk fang imbedded in it, Briar rushed forward to Harry's side.

"How do you feel?" she asked worriedly as she helped him shakily get to his feet.

"Fine. I don't – I was dying, but now I'm…" Harry said looking down at his healed arm in confusion.

"Phoenix tears, they heal" Briar grinned.

The twins looked at each other for a moment before they pulled one another into the tightest hug imaginable. Neither could believe that they almost had to be in a world that didn't involve the other.

They finally pulled away, with identical grins on their faces as Harry bent down to get the wands, handing Briar her own before he retrieved the glittering sword from the roof of the basilisk's mouth.

"How did you get this?" Harry asked her in confusion.

"I don't know, I just- panicked and pulled it from the sorting hat" Briar said her tone just as confused. "But we should just be glad I did."

Then came a faint moan from the end of the chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Briar and Harry hurried toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes travelled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Harry and Briar, in their blood soaked robes, then to the diary in Briar's hand.

She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.

"Briar – oh, Harry – I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy – it was me – but I – I s-swear I d-didn't mean to – R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over – and – how did you kill that – that thing? W-where's Rodd? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary-"

"It's okay, Gin. He's gone." Said Briar holding up the destroyed diary.

"Him and the basilisk." Harry added, "c'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here-"

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept and she and Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and – w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. The twins urged Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel.

Briar heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached their ears.

"Ron!" Harry yelled as they sped up. "Ginny's okay! We've got her!"

Ron gave a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rock fall.

"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How – what – where did that bird come from?"

Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry as he urged Briar to squeeze through the gap next.

"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron as Harry came after her, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand.

"We'll explained when we get out of here, this place gives me the creeps" Briar shuddered, pretending not to notice Ginny crying harder than ever, deciding she needed some time.

"But-"

"Later," Harry said shortly. "Where's Lockhart?"

"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself"

Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all.

"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

"No," said Ron, raising his eyebrows at her and Harry.

"Is it bad that I prefer him like this?" Briar muttered to Harry who smacked her on the arm, but he was smiling slightly.

Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron.

Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the Phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of them, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. Briar and Harry shared an uncertain look.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold…" said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there-"

"But he's a phoenix" said Briar a smile blooming on her face.

"Fawkes isn't an ordinary bird" Harry agreed and they shared a knowing look before he turned quickly to them all. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ron, grab Briar's hand, Ginny grab Ron's hand. Professor Lockhart-"

"He means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.

"You hold Ginny's other hand-"

Harry tucked the sword and the sorting hat into his belt, Briar took hold of the beck of Harry's robes, and Harry reached out and took hold of Fawkes' tail feathers.

An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through her whole body and the next second, in a rush of wings, Briar had to tighten her hold on Harry's robs as they were flying upward through the pipe.

"Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" Lockhart was saying dangling below her.

The chill hair was whipping through Briar's hair, and before she'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over – all five of them were hitting the wet floor of moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Briar ruffled her hair and Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off of his glasses.

"Oh, well…I'd just been thinking…if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

Briar and Harry shared identical looks of disgust.

"Ugh!" said Ron as they left the bathroom for the dark, deserted corridor outside. "Harry! I think Moaning Myrtle's grown fond of you! You've got competition Ginny!"

"If I ever have to call moaning Myrtle a sister-in-law I will kill you Harry, I'd much prefer Ginny to be a Potter" Briar joked, nudging the girl, but tears were still flooding silently down Ginny's face.

"Where now?" said Ron, with an anxious look at Ginny.

Harry pointed. Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. They strode after him, and moment later, found themselves outside Minnie's office.

Briar gave Harry a nod and he knocked, pushing the door open.


	28. Home

Chapter Twenty Seven

_Home_

For a moment there was silence as Briar, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slim and (In Briar and Harry's case) Blood. Then there was a scream.

"Ginny!"

It was Mrs Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.

"Bambi!"

Another shout came. It was from her Uncle Moony, who had been standing next to Minnie stony faces with tear filled brown eyes. He pulled Briar into a tight hug and Briar felt her own eyes fill with tears as she remembered what had happened. She had almost lost her twin like she had lost everyone else.

When her uncle Moony pulled away, Briar looked past him. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Minnie, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest.

Fawkes went whooshing past Briar's ear and settles on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Briar found herself, Harry and Ron being swept into Mrs Weasley's tight embrace.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Minnie weakly.

Mrs Weasley let go of Harry and Briar, who shared a look before Harry went over to the desk and laid upon it the sorting hat, the ruby encrusted sword and Briar placed down what remained of Riddle's diary.

Harry started to tell them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour he spoke into the rapt silence: he told them about hearing the disembodies voice, how Hermione had finally realised that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes, how he and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secret might be in her bathroom…

"Very well," Minnie prompted him as he paused. "So you found out where the entrance was – breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add – but how on earth did you all get out there alive?"

Briar explained this time, as Harry's voice was growing hoarse from all the talking. She told them about Fawkes' timely arrival and how she pulled out the sword so Harry could kill the basilisk. Then she faltered.

Harry had avoided mentioning Riddle's diary – or Ginny. She was standing with her head against Mrs Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? She had destroyed Riddle's diary, meaning they couldn't prove it.

She shared a worried glance before looking at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currents in hiding in the forests of Albania"

Relief swept over Briar and Harry that Dumbledore understood what had happened. Uncle Moony had paled at the mention of Voldemort and laid a hand on her shoulder, as though wanting to reassure himself that she was still there.

"W-what's that?" said Mr Weasley in a stunned voice. "You- Know- Who? En-enchanted Ginny? But Ginny's not…Ginny hasn't been…has she?"

"It was the diary," said Brair quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore.

"Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen…" Harry added hurriedly.

Dumbledore took the diary from Briar and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to Moony and the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school…travelled far and wide…sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaces as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once head boy here"

"But, Ginny," said Mrs Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with – with – him?"

"His d-diary!" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year-"

Briar stood up so that she could lean into her uncle Moony's side with his arm around her, but still had her twin's hand in hers, wanting to remind herself that he got out alive.

"Ginny!" said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic-"

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside of the books mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it-"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right way," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards had been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort."

Dumbledore strolled over to the door and opened it.

"Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice- I daresay the basilisks victims will be waking up any moment"

"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly and Briar smiled.

"There has been no lasting harm don, Ginny," said Dumbledore.

Mrs Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.

"I should probably have a shower and tell Lee and the twins what happened" Briar said, she was feeling sick looking at her twins blood staining her hands.

Dumbledore and Minnie nodded approvingly.

Before she could leave her uncle Moony pulled her into another bone crushing hug and whispered Don't ever do that to me again" in her ear.

Briar nodded with a forced smile and made her way from the office and through the castle towards the Gryffindor common room.

When she finally told the fat lady the password and entered the common room, it feel silent. Most of the Gryffindors were gathered in the common room and were staring at her with wide eyes, taking in her grime and blood covered appearance.

Briar felt a blush appear on her cheeks. She loved attention but not this kind.

"Bambi/Briar!"

It was the twins and Lee they were suddenly running towards her and giving her hugs that rivalled her Uncle Moony's and Mrs Weasley's.

"Are you okay?"

"Is Ginny fine?"

"Thank Merlin, what happened?"

Briar looked past their worried faces towards the rest of the Gryffindors, who were looking at her expectantly. The boys seemed to notice the problem and ushered her up to their dorm room, glaring at the common room.

She then spent the next half hour recounting the story yet again. Fred and George got extremely pale at the mention of Ginny being possessed by Voldemort and Lee had his arm around her tightly when she mentioned almost losing Harry. Fred and George looked just as pale then too, clearly wondering what it would be like to lose each other.

After Briar had taken a boiling shower she sat on the end of George's bed with him and Fred, listening to Lee's heavy breathing as he slept, not having almost lost a sibling like they had.

The twins had their arms around her and they sat silent, blue eyes shining with tears.

Fred and George rarely showed emotion and they tease and trick mercilessly, they're pranksters, that's what they do. But first and foremost they were older brothers and Briar could see that they thought they failed Ginny.

Later that night before they went to the feast Harry told her about Dobby and how it was Lucius Malfoy who gave Ginny the diary. She had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this.

Everyone was in their Pyjamas and the celebration lasted all night. Briar didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward them, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Hagrid turning up at half pas three, cuffing Briar, Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulder that they were knocked into their trifles, or her, Harry's and Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House cup for the second year running, or Minnie standing up and telling them all that the exams had been cancelled as a school treat ("Yes!" cried the twins and Lee), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he need to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a ham doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me"

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences – Defence Against the Dark Arts Classes were cancelled ("Not like we learnt anything anyway" Lee shrugged carelessly) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Malfoy was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other had Ginny was perfectly happy again.

Soon it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Briar, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves.

They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do mafic before the holidays. They played exploding snap, set of the very last of Briar's and the twins' Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. She and Harry were getting very good at it.

They were almost at King's Cross when Harry said, "Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well – Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books of George's head, who in turn fell onto Briar's lap. She was staring at Ginny in disbelief.

"What?" she and the twins gasped simultaneously.

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was – you know – attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

"We're offended at the very suggestion" Briar smirked, her hazel eyes twinkling.

When the Hogwarts express finally stopped. Briar hugged the twins goodbye and searched for Lee to give him a kiss, before running to her Uncle Moony and Zingy, clutching a parchment of numbers that Harry said was a 'telephone number' in her hand.

After getting out of the tearful hug Zingy was giving her ("Thank Merlin, Mistress is okay, Zingy was so worried!") she grabbed her uncle Moony's arm and they disappeared with a crack.


	29. Behind the Cold, Stone Walls

Chapter Twenty Eight

_Behind the Cold, Stone Walls_

**Author's Note: I'm so glad to get to this point. From the third book onwards is what I have been really eager to write, the time when the relationship between Briar and Fred really starts to be introduced, as well as with her Uncle Padfoot. **

**I may have said his before, but please review! I love feedback, it really spurs me on to write more and any ideas would be appreciated. **

On an island in the middle of the North Sea unseen by Muggles, was Azkaban Prison. The sky around it was a permanent shade of grey, with mist swirling around it, as though the very air was feeling the effects of the Azkaban guards…the dementors.

Dementors were among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. The long term residents of Azkaban have been fed on so much that they are reduced to something like itself, soulless and evil.

There are exceptions. One such person is Sirius Black, but just like everyone else he was still left with nothing but the worst experiences of his life.

He resided in one the high security cells in Azkaban. The cell was as dark and gloomy as the rest of the prison, the only sounds the screams of the prisoners that unlike him had gone made and the _drip drip drip_ of water droplets from the damp walls. The small barred window near the ceiling let enough of the air in to allow him to smell the salty ocean air, but all it did was serve as a reminder that he was trapped in one of the worst places on Earth.

Currently, Sirius was huddled in the corner of his cell, his bony arms wrapped tightly around his skeletal form to try and retain as much heat as physical possible, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to block out the screams and shrieks of Death Eaters and other such criminals in the cells around his.

The cell opposite him contained none other than Bellatrix Lestrange, his deranged cousin, how fucking ironic is that? The family member he hated most in the world, even more than his mother, was the person he was considered to most be like now, being on a level as bad as Britain's greatest torturer.

A sharp icy coldness suddenly swept through him. He tightened his hold on his body as he began shivering even worse than before. They were back, just like clockwork, it was time for the dementors to feed. His mind went fuzzy, a feeling of permanent hollowness flooding through him.

"I'm innocent, I'm innocent, I'm innocent" he muttered under his breath, rocking himself slightly in hope to dull the Dementors' effects, but it was no good.

"_SIRIUS BLACK! You walk out that door and you can forget ever coming back! You are a disgrace! Shame of my flesh!" _

_His mother was screeching harsh words as he held open the front door, his trunk containing almost all of his belongings held in his hand behind him. _

_He turned to look at her with the utmost loathing, a hateful glance spared for his younger brother too, who was standing with a stupid smug look on his face, showing how pleased he was that soon enough not only would he be the favourite son, but the heir too. _

"_Why would I ever want to come back?" he spat, his voice filled with loathing. _

_He strode out of the door, his trunk dragging behind him. He didn't look back but out of the corner of his eyes he could still see a flash of silver, the smell of burning in his nose and his mother's scream of fury. There was a fresh burn mark on the Black family tapestry, but Sirius couldn't give a shit. _

He was shaking and trembling, his eyes more dull than before as he was yanked out of the memory, but only a second had past when he was pushed into another one.

"_Prongs," Sirius said in a heavy voice as the door opened._

_He was standing in the doorway of the Potter's safe house, James eyeing him with the utmost concern. It wasn't often Sirius cried, almost unheard of in fact, but right now tears were falling relentlessly down his cheeks and his shoulders were shaking._

_James lurched forward and pulled Sirius into a hug, the latter holding onto his best friend with a desperation he hadn't had for a long time. James held onto him for a long time, soothing him the best he could with his presence as Sirius sobbed into his messy black hair, not caring that the man's glasses were digging harshly into his cheek. _

"_James, Honey, who was it?" Lily's voice came._

_Sirius looked past James shoulder just in time to see Lily enter the hallway, still clad in her pyjamas, her red hair in disarray and her emerald eyes tired. _

_When she caught sight of Sirius she gasped and rushed forward. Sirius pulled away from James and pulled the woman he thought of as a sister into his arms as well, hugging as tightly as he could, reminding himself that they were still there. _

_Lily ushered him into the house as James shut the door and pushed him to sit down on their settee. _

"_What is it? What happened?" James asked worriedly, his hazel eyes filled with the same concern shown on Lily's face._

_Lily sat down next to him on the settee, putting a comforting arm around her as James perched himself on the coffee table so that he was able to face him, leaning forward worriedly. _

"_It's Marlene"_

_Lily stiffened at the mention of her best friend and James' God-sister. Sirius had been dating Marlene since they were eighteen and was actually considering proposing soon, but none of that mattered now. Hardly anything did. _

"_S-she's dead. Her whole-whole family they're all…" Sirius couldn't finished as her began to cry again. _

_James yanked a hand though his hair as Lily choked on her own sobs, crying into Sirius' hair. James leapt to his feet and kicked the table with an angry gesture, before he two began to cry for the loss. _

Sirius barely even had time to open his eyes and pull in gasping breathes before he was yanked into yet another of his worst memories…the worst.

_Sirius landed his flying motorbike heavily in the street, hopping off of it before it had even stopped moving. He began to run, run faster than he ever had before up Godric's hollow, before he came to the safe house. _

_His breath hitched when he got there. It was in ruins, half of the house was gone, the rest blackened and destroyed, barely even resembling the home he had visited so often. Above it was…was the dark mark. That horrible glowing skull with the snake slithering from its mouth. _

"_No" he muttered disbelievingly to himself. _

_He rushed forward and through what remained of the door, but froze as soon as he did. He felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces and the shards scrape at his insides. _

_James was sprawled out on the stairs. His hazel eyes were wide and glassy, staring unseeing at the ceiling. His black hair was in a state he would have never allowed if he was alive and his glasses, one lens smashed, were crooked on his face. _

_Sirius walked forward slowly and crouched down next to his best friend, his brother in all but blood. The steps were cutting into his knees, but he didn't care. He reached forward to carefully close his eyes and straighten his glasses, before he ruffled his hair into an acceptable position. _

_There, he could almost be sleeping now. Accept he wasn't, and Sirius new it, his best friend was going to a place where Sirius couldn't reach. _

"_Wake up!" Sirius screamed, shaking James' body. "Wake the fuck up!"_

_Sirius began to sob, holding his best friend close to him and rocking him in an almost consoling fashion. This was pain worse than anything, worse than the cruciatus. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, crying into his best friend's hair muttering "I'm sorry" over and over again. _

When most of the icy coldness ebbed away, indicating the Dementors' retreat, Sirius opened his teary silver eyes, gasping in breathes as he clawed at him chest, almost as though he could tear the remnant of his pain from himself.

He tilted his head back to rest on the stone wall and reminded himself over and over again that he was innocent, he had to do this to keep himself sane. This wasn't a happy thought, how could it be? He had failed in tearing the little rat to shreds after he had betrayed James and Lily, only secret keeper under Sirius' own suggestion.

Sirius was about to turn into a dog to retain some more of his sanity when he heard it. Voices. And footsteps, coming down the extended corridor lined with cells containing some of the worst criminals imaginable.

He knew who it was. It was the minister of Magic and whatever ministry worker was accompanying him. He did checks in the prison now and again. Sirius didn't know why, what could he possibly hope to see?

The footsteps stopped and Sirius looked up to see that the Minister had stopped in front of his cell and was peering in. Cornelius Fudge looked exactly as he had on his last visit a few years prior. Rather portly with rumpled grey hair. He looked extremely out of place in the prison with his pinstriped suit, scarlet tied, pointed purple boots and lime green bowler hat.

Sirius forced himself to his feet, using the cell wall to steady himself and shuffled forward slightly so that Fudge could see him better in the small amount of light available from the tiny barred window.

Fudge gulped when he caught sight of him and that gave Sirius a tiny twinge of twisted pleasure as the minister took of his hat and began to twirl it nervously in his pudgy fingers.

"Come to see if I'm mad yet?" Sirius asked, a small mischievous glint that hadn't been present in a long time appearing in his eyes as he smirk, barring his teeth.

"N-no, it's j-just a routine check, Black" Fudge stuttered, his voice shaking.

Sirius rolled his eyes. How he ever became Minister was beyond him. He was still scared of Sirius even though he was the one with a wand and on the other side of the barred cell.

Sirius paused when he saw that a newspaper was tucked neatly under the Minister's arm. It might be nice to know the date, to know how long he had actually spent in this hell.

"Could I have your paper?" Sirius asked pleasantly and when fudge hesitated, he added, "I miss doing the cross words"

Fudge handed Sirius the paper with a shaking hand before putting his bowler hat back on his head, shooting Sirius one last scared glance, and hurrying down the dark corridor to perhaps go to the Ministry official who had accompanied him.

He looked at the date and saw that it was the 31st July 1993. He smiled softly when he realised it was Harry's and Briar's thirteenth birthday, but it quickly faded. Eleven years. He had been stuck here for eleven years for a crime he didn't commit.

Sirius looked down at the article on the first page: 'MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE'. However, he didn't bother to read the rest of the article about the Weasley's, as it was the picture that held his attention.

On a young, gangly looking boy's shoulder in the centre was a rat…and it was missing a toe. He would recognise that rat anywhere, he had spent so many full moons running about the forbidden forest and Hogsmeade with it he wasn't likely to forget.

It seemed as though Peter had found a nice wizarding family to take him in.

"Well, well, well, Wormtail. Looks like you're not as dim as we always thought" Sirius muttered, his piercing eyes not moving away from the fat grey rat.


	30. Sirius Black Escapes

Chapter Twenty Nine

_Sirius Black Escapes_

Briar Rose Potter was finding her summer extremely boring so far. She loved being back with her Uncle Moony and her house elf Zingy, but she was starting to miss her friends and her twin brother, Harry Potter, who had been forced to go back to their horrid Muggle relatives the Dursleys.

She was currently standing in front of her mirror plaiting her messy black hair. There was no reason to it exactly, but she was basically doing anything to distract herself from doing her summer homework, even though she'd hear no end of it by Hermione. Why would she want to spend her time doing her Herbology homework, she had done everything but that seeing as it was her most hated subject.

Her uncle Moony was currently out trying to find another job, seeing as he had gotten fired from the Apothecary. Briar was losing faith in people, she really was. Her Uncle Moony was the nicest, most hardworking person she knew, yet he was constantly losing jobs on account of him being a werewolf.

Briar wished she could speak to her twin, seeing as her uncle Moony promised to take her to a phone booth to call him on a fellytone, but Ron had written her earlier in the week telling her the disastrous result of his. She hoped Harry didn't get badly punished for it. However, she had been able to send him letters almost every day with Onyx.

It was now the 31st July, Briar and Harry's birthday and she was spending it alone. a wonderful smell was reaching her from downstairs telling her that Zingy was cooking her a special birthday breakfast, but it was still sad that unlike last year she wouldn't be spending it with all her friends.

She had already sent Harry his present, Dragon hide Quidditch gloves, but knew she wouldn't be getting one back since the Dursley's wouldn't let him buy anything, but she didn't mind. After almost losing him to basilisk venom at the end of the last term of Hogwarts, she was just happy he was still with her.

Briar, though still rather small and skinny, had grown a few inches over the last year. Her jet-black hair, was still stubbornly untidy, just the way she liked it, but it had grown a few inches as well, almost reaching her hips now. Her eyes were a bright hazel and her skin was pale despite the amount of time she had spent flying on her broom outside. She was also still wearing the ruby ring her boyfriend, Lee Jordon, had gotten her for Christmas last year, not having taken it off since.

Briar was getting more and more like her father, James Potter, every day: brave and cheeky, with a devilish amount of confidence. Her uncle Moony seemed torn between thinking this was good that she was so similar to one of his best friends, or bad since she was just a Quidditch and pranking mad.

She turned with a frown, her hair now tied in an extremely messy plait, to look at the Herbology homework on her desk. She sighed and decided she best get back to it and slumped down it her flashing chair, and stared at the parchment in front of her.

'_What are the properties of Devil's Snare and how can it be used or gotten rid of?'_

She reached up and twiddled her locket deftly between her fingers as she stared down at the question, having no clue what to write. What in Merlin's name was Devil's Snare? The locket was another piece of jewellery she always wore. Her best friends, Fred and George Weasley, gave it to her for her birthday and it contained a moving picture of the three of them, grinning and waving at the camera.

There came a large thump outside her window. There were three owls. The third appeared to have flew right into it and slid slowly down so that the other two had to hold it up as it appeared to have fell unconscious.

"Thank Merlin" Briar breathed in relief at the distraction from her homework.

She quickly hopped up and pulled open her window. As soon as she did the two owls carried the third and landed with a thump on Briar's bed, and the middle owl, which was large and grey, keeled right over and lay motionless. There were two large packages tied to its legs.

Briar rolled her eyes at the owl. It was Errol, who belonged to the Weasleys, she had gotten lots of letters from the twins and some from Ron over the summer and more often than not Errol had to spend a few days in Briar's cage recovering.

She moved to her bed, untied the cords around Errol's legs, took of the parcel, and then carried Errol to Onyx's cage. Errol opened one bleary eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to gulp some water.

For once Briar wasn't surprise that Errol wasn't feeling too well. She knew from the daily profit that the Weasley had one a grand prize from the Ministry and had all gone to Egypt to visit the eldest Weasley child, Bill. Briar was extremely glad for them, she didn't think anyone deserved to win a large pile of gold than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor.

Briar turned back to the remaining owls. One of them, a large jet black female, was her own Onyx. She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked at Briar expectantly until she sighed and gave her an owl treat to her greedy bird. She gave Briar an affectionate nip with her beak as she removed her burden, then flew across the room to join Errol, seeming rather displeased that she was sharing her cage yet again.

The third owl, a handsome tawny one, she recognised as a Hogwarts owl from the owlery. In addition to a third package, it was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When Briar relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its feathers importantly (reminding her strongly of Percy Weasley), stretched its wings, and took of through the window.

Briar sat down on her bed and grabbed Errol's first package. She quickly ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a box of chocolate frogs, and a birthday card. Opening the envelop, a piece of paper fell out. Looking at the letter she saw from the untidy scrawl that it was from Ron.

_Dear Briar,_

_Happy Birthday!_

_It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff._

_I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Profit Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of its gone on this trip, but they're going to by me a new wand for next year since I broke the last one crashing dad's car into the Whomping willow. (That tree is a nightmare, honestly!)_

_We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there? I asked Harry but haven't got a reply yet, I'm not sure if the Muggles will let him reply. _

_Try and come to London,_

_Ron_

Briar turned to the next parcel that Errol had been carrying and saw that it was from the twins. She pulled of the brown paper and found a messily wrapped present in gold paper and another birthday card. She opened it and unfolded the letter that had fallen out.

_Hey Bambi!_

_**Happy birthday!**_

_Sorry how messy the present is, Fred insisted on wrapping it himself. __**Hey it's wrapped isn't it?**__ We're having a brilliant time in Egypt. __**Bill took us through all the tombs, you should've seen the things in there, it was disgusting!**__ You would've loved it! __**The was this one Muggle skeleton that had an arm growing out of its…well…somewhere you wouldn't want an arm. **__We tried to lock Percy in one of the tombs, but mum caught us. __**I don't know why she minded, no one would have missed the git. **_

_We wanted to buy a sneakoscope but we decided it would probably always go of around you, you're always up to something. __**Ron bought one for Harry, Bill said it was rubbish since it kept lighting up at dinner last night.**__ He didn't realise Fred and I were putting beetles in his soup. __**You should have seen his face when he ate it. **__Brilliant!_

_How's your summer going? __**Having a good time with Moony? **__By the way, Percy's been made head boy. __**It's awful, we can barely stand the shame!**__ He's been unbearable, even worse than when he made prefect. __**We stole his badge and got Scabbers to wear it.**__ I have never heard him yell louder! _

_Are we going to see you in London a week before term starts? We'll be back by then._

_**From, **_

_**Fred **__and George_

She groaned slightly at the mention of Percy, he was going to be worse than ever. Briar put down the letter and quickly unwrapped the terrible wrapped present. She couldn't help but laugh when she realised it was a small bottle of firewhiskey. A small note fell out of the present and she picked it up off the floor to read.

_**We managed to convince Bill to buy you this. **_

_Don't tell mum though._

_Bye – _

_Gred __**and Forge.**_

Briar put the bottle of firewhiskey into her bedside table, knowing Zingy would take it off of her and hand it to Uncle Moony if she found it laying around. Honestly, it was like having an overbearing parent with that house elf.

She then sat back down on her bed and picked up the parcel that Briar had brought. Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, though this was much neater wrapped than the twin's, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione.

_Dear Briar,_

_I'm still in France at the moment so I wasn't sure how I was going to get this to you or Harry's to him, luckily Hedwig and Onyx showed up. I bought your present by owl-order; there was an advertisement in the Daily Prophet (I've been getting it delivered; it's so good to keep up with what's going on in the wizarding world), Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I guess you did since you live in a wizarding household. I'm so jealous – the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating. _

_There's some interest local history of witchcraft here, too. I've rewritten my who history of magic essay to include it, I hope it's not too long – it's two rolls of parchment than Professor Binns asked for. _

_We'll be back home in a few days. I was wondering if you wanted to say with me? my mum and dad say it would be fine. If not hopefully I will see you in London in the last week of the holidays, Ron says he's going to be there. _

_Love From Hermione. _

_P.S. Ron says Percy's Head boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it. _

Briar rolled her eyes. Hermione was the only person she knew who would have to worry about her essay being too long. She put Hermione's letter to one side and picked up her present. It was very heavy.

She ripped off the wrapping paper and her eyes widened when she saw what was inside, a small squeal of happiness escaping her. It was a black leather case, with silver words stamped across it, reading Broomstick Servicing Kit.

"I love you, Hermione!" Briar exclaimed, unzipping the case to look inside.

She had been staring at these in Quality Quidditch Supplies for months. There was a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tall-Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip to your broom for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.

Briar was eager to polish her broom later on, get it back into tip top shape. her broom was one of her most prized possessions and she always took the best care of it.

Briar put the leather case aside and picked up the second parcel that Onyx had been carrying. This one from Lee.

_Dear Briar,_

_Happy Birthday! Hope you're having a great day! _

_Fred and George told me they're going to Diagon Alley in the week before School, will you be going? It'll be great to see you there! _

_Things are going well on my end. Holly's gone on a trip with her school so it's been surprisingly quiet in the house. My mum and dad took me to Cornwall last weekend, it was great, even though the sea was freezing, the ice cream was delicious though! I spent most of my time sitting back and watching the seagulls steal people's food, it was hilarious! _

_I pulled a prank on my parents, I think you'll like this. When they had their friends over for card night I 'accidentally' replaced them with exploding snap cards. You should have seen everyone, they were screaming and jumping, epic! _

_Love, _

_Lee_

Briar laughed at the letter, feeling a small jolt in her stomach at the word 'love' and turned to pick up his parcel. He had gotten her an assortment of Muggle chocolates that she had never seen before. She frowned and nibbled the edge of something called a 'Mars Bar', it was good too.

She put the chocolates to one side, sure that Zingy would kill her if she ate them before breakfast and picked up her last parcel. She recognized the untidy scrawl on the paper from past letters over the summer, this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper.

She tore off the top layer of paper and glimpse something green and leathery, but before she could unwrap it properly, the parcel gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it snapped loudly as though it had jaws. Briar grinned at the prospects.

She unwrapped the rest of the paper quickly and held the wiggling parcel tightly, not wanting it to get away. It was a book with a handsome green cover, emblazoned with the golden title: 'The Monster Book of Monster'.

Briar gripped it tightly as it thrashed in her hands, snapping it's jaws, trying to get out of her grip. She stroked it's spine, trying to calm it and was pleased when it shudder before falling open. She flipped through the pages on the different magical creatures, pausing to look at the pictures before she closed the book and put it in her desk draw, making the desk shake as the book began to thrash again, hopefully it would calm down on its own in the dark draw.

She reached for Hagrid's card.

_Dear Briar,_

_Happy Birthday!_

_Think you might find this useful for next year. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you. Hope you're having a good summer. _

_Aragog misses you and says Happy birthday and the thestrals and Hippogryffs have been doing well, you'll be able to spend more time with them in all the detentions I'm sure you'll get this year._

_All the best, _

_Hagrid_

Briar wondered what Hagrid meant about the biting book being useful, but sighed impatiently knowing she was just going to have to wait until she saw him next. Now there was only the letter from Hogwarts left.

She grinned when she noticed it was thick than usual. Now that she was going into third year they would be able to visit Hogsmeade…well, with permission that was. She slit open the first page of parchment within, and read:

_Dear Miss Potter,_

_Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._

_Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign. _

_A list of books for next year is enclosed._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall _

_Deputy Headmistress_

Briar pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it with a large, excited grin, eager to get her Uncle Moony to sign it as soon as possible.

A few days later Briar was sorting through the tip of her room in search of her Hogsmeade permission form. As soon as he got home on her birthday her uncle Moony had allowed her to go and visit Hermione (she would be leaving today) and in her excitement she started packing straight away, in her rush her permission form was lost in the mess created.

She cheered triumphantly when she finally found it in the jaws of a fanged Frisbee under her bed. She was just smoothing out the parchment when there was a loud crack behind her, making her jump.

Whirling around she saw that it was just Zingy. Zingy had been the Potter's house elf for a very long time, technically she had been a free elf since her mum and dad went into hiding, but she was still very loyal to the family. She had tennis ball sized blue eyes and was wearing a pink jumped with a flimsy skirt and a fluorescent pink hat.

"Miss, Zingy had finished your breakfast" Zingy told her with her usual high pitched voice.

"Thanks Zingy" Briar said gratefully and Zingy grinned.

Zingy looked about Briar's messy bedroom with a tut. The elf shot her a disapproving look that could rival Hermione's and Briar smiled sheepishly as Zingy began to tidy her room and began to go down stairs to get her breakfast.

Briar loved Zingy's cooking, it was especially good since before she came to stay with her and Uncle Moony at Christmas during her first year they had lived off takeout food since her uncle Moony was an abysmal cook.

She set the Hogsmeade permission form on the table next to her and quickly began to scoff all the bacon, sausage, hash browns and eggs she could eat.

Briar only looked up from her delicious breakfast when there was a quiet crack from outside the house and a few moments later her Uncle Moony came in returning from his second job interview this week. she looked at him eagerly, before she sighed when he noticed his weary expression.

"You didn't get it?" she asked in disappointment.

"No, they didn't want to hire someone with my condition" her Uncle Moony said and sat down on the chair opposite her.

Briar gritted her teeth angrily. She couldn't understand what people's problems with her Uncle Moony was, he just had a 'furry little problem'. He was a wolf one a month and that was it, he was still a person and with the Wolfsbane potion there was huge progress. Of course sometimes it didn't work, and Briar had the scars to prove it, but it wasn't like he was going to shift during work.

She looked at her uncle Moony's tired scarred face, the grey already appearing in his sandy hair, and his patched robes. Briar had offered to buy him new robes with the Potter fortune but he completely refused so Briar didn't push it.

"Oh the brighter side," she said, trying to cheer the mood she handed him the Hogsmeade permission form "I can go to Hogsmeade this year"

Uncle Moony smiled looking down at the parchment.

"You mean you're allowed to go without sneaking in now" he said in a scolding manor but his brown eyes were twinkling.

"If you want to be technical about it" Briar smirked, ruffling her hair.

Her uncle Moony chuckled and moved to grab a quill and ink pot from the living room side before coming back to the table in order to sign the form.

There was a tapping at the kitchen window and Briar looked up to see the familiar owl that delivered the Daily Profit to her god father every day.

"Bambi, can you get that?" Her uncle Moony said, still in the process of signing the form.

Briar nodded even though he wasn't looking at her and hopped up to open the kitchen window. The owl moved to perch on the window ledge, dropped the daily profit so it fell in the sink and stuck out it's leg, which had a money pouch tied to it. She rooted around in her robes pocket until she found a few Knuts and gave the bird five before it took flight again.

As she closed the window, she reached into the sink to get the daily profit, wiping some of the water off with a grimace. She unfolded the paper and her breath hitched, she felt like all the air had been sucked from her lungs.

_SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES_

_The first ever escape documented occurred last night. Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever held in Azkaban fortress was found missing from his cell. The ministry are at a loss as to how he did it, as no one had ever managed it before. _

"_He never seemed to go mad like the other prisoners," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "there are debates as to whether he had been using unknown dark magic this whole time and only just built up his strength."_

_The Minister has been reported as to be doing all he can to recapture Black, having some of the best Aurors, including Kingsley Shacklebolt, on the case. _

_It is crucial that Black is captured as soon as possible, lest there be panic in the wizarding and Muggle communities. There is fear that there will perhaps be another massacre like the one eleven years ago when Black murdered thirteen people with one curse. _

She looked at the picture beneath, her uncle Padfoot screaming in rage as he was shackled into his cell. His eyes were shadowed, his face sunken and thin with terribly waxy skin that made him almost resemble a vampire. He barely resembled the handsome man in so many of her photos and a few of her oldest most treasured memories. But those eyes…even in a black and white picture she could imagine their silvery colour…they were all him.

"M-Moony," Briar stuttered, her hands shaking slightly as she stared at his picture with wide hazel eyes, she could barely believe what he had been reduced to.

"All done" Her uncle Moony said as he finished signing her permission slip, but he looked up with a frown when he noticed her pale face. "Bambi, what is it?"

Briar just shook her head, shakily handing her uncle Moony the paper.

His brown eyes scanned the paper, widening in horror. His face paled drastically causing his scars to stand out further. Her Uncle Moony read the paper a second time, then a third, then once more, not seeming to be able to believe it.

"Leave it to Padfoot" He said, but his voice held an undertone of anger.

Briar tried to smile, but it failed. She wanted to believe her uncle Padfoot was innocent, but after what he did…if it turned out to be true she would tear him to shred and not feel a shred of guilt about it.

Her Uncle Moony had many emotions swimming in his eyes. Disbelief that his old friend even managed it, sadness as he remembered all the losses, anger and betrayal at what he had done and despite Briar wanting to believe with all her heart it wasn't true, she was feeling the exact same.

As Briar began to bring all her things down stairs to get ready for her visit to Hermione's house, she wasn't as excited before, instead worry, fear and anger running through her veins. Her uncle Moony had been quiet too, going about his usual routine in a daze.

"You know, maybe you shouldn't go" Moony said worriedly when she a bought the last of her things, Onyx in her cage, downstairs.

"Uncle Moony-" Briar whined in protest.

"No, I mean it. With Sirius on the loose, we don't know what he's capable of. We all thought we knew him once before, and look what happened" he explained.

Briar sighed, she could see where he was coming from. She hated what Padfoot had done probably more than anyone. No matter what her heart told her there was always that doubt, that he really had betrayed them, lingering in her head.

She sighed.

"Uncle Moony, what do you think is more likely, him going to his old friend's house, who he knows is godfather it Briar Rose Potter, or to a muggle street he more than likely has never heard of?" Briar asked, putting out her hands in faux scales and sarcastically pretending to tip it.

"Fine" Moony sighed, "I'll take you to Godric's Hollow to visit Lily and James while I take your stuff to the Grangers, and I will come get you a bit later"

Briar smiled and gripped his arm. A second later she was feeling that awful sensation of getting sucked through a tube but almost as soon as it begun it was over and they were standing in the street of Godric's Hollow. Uncle Moony hugged her, making her promise to be careful, before he disapparated with a crack.

She began to walk down Godric's Hollow, walking until she could stop in front of a very familiar house, there for every wizarding citizen to see, the Fidelius charm having died with her parents.

The hedge had grown while in the eleven years since Hagrid had taken her and Harry from the rubble that lay scattered amongst the wait-high grass. Most of the cottage was still standing, though it was entirely covered by dark ivy, but the right side had been blown apart, stemming from where the killing curse had backfired.

If Briar closed her eyes she could almost fuzzily recall what it was like. Warm and happy, with the green settee that her Uncle Moony told her dad always hated since it was Slytherin colours, and moving pictures covering the walls, now lost in the wreckage.

She gently kissed her fingers and place them on the gate. Her touch ignited the magic, just as she knew it would, so that a sign emerged from the ground in front of her, up through the tangles of nettles and weeds, and in golden letters upon the wood it said:

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1982, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their children, Harry and Briar being the only survivors. Harry remains the only wizard ever to have survived the killing curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family. _

All around the neatly lettered words were scribbled from different witches and wizards who had visited. They all said similar things, praising Harry for his defeat of Voldemort and wishing her and Harry the best of luck in their lives.

Briar sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before continuing on her way toward the graveyard. As she walked she promised herself that she would make sure Harry came to see this, at least once.

She smiled softly as she got to the graveyard and passed the war memorial. As she passed it, it transformed. Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was her mum with long hair and kind, pretty face with Harry in her arms and next to them was her dad, with untidy hair and glasses, holding Briar.

Briar weaved her way through all the graves, passing the Dumbledore's and Peveralls and finally coming to a stop and kneeling in front of the one she came to see. Grief weighed on her heart and lungs as she ran her fingers over the familiar engraved words:

_James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1982_

_Lily Potter, born 30 January, died 31 October 1982_

_The last enemy that shall be destroy is death_

A tear slid down her cheek. Twenty two, they were only twenty two, that was just five years they had together.

Briar didn't have much to say to her parents this time, so she just let the grief over flow. Tears came quickly, boiling hot on her face. For once she let them fall, her lips pressed together as she looked down to the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now and right now and just as she always was when she visited, she was close to wishing that she was sleeping down there with them.

Briar forced herself to stop crying and stuck her hand in her robe pockets (Her Uncle Moony put an extendable charm on them) to pull out some lilies and a small picture of the marauders to place in front of the grave, next to all the other presents she had left them over the years.

She sat down properly and crossed her legs, staring at her parents' names.

Briar began to explain to them everything that had happened last year. With the chamber of the secrets and the basilisk, the terrifying moment when she thought Harry was going to be joining them. She then told them all the other stuff, joining the Quidditch team, her relationship with Lee, her friendships, her pranks, her grades, everything. Finally, she got to her last point.

"Uncle Padfoot's escaped from Azkaban" she said, her voice slightly hoarse from all her talking. "Good luck beating that dad, if you're still causing trouble wherever you are. I hope you, growing up is the last thing you want to do, how boring would be?" she gave a watery laugh and wiped at her cheeks.

She sighed and ran a hand through her messy hair, trying to gain some control.

"I don't know what to do or what to believe. I know what he did, to you, to us, to those muggles, to Uncle Wormtail, but my heart doesn't want to believe and they say you should always follow you heart but…" she shook her head. "I don't know"

She heard a crack of a twig behind her and she whirled around, jumping to her feet.

Her eyes scanned the graveyard before they fell on a hug black dog. It's fur was dirty and shaggy and it was so thin it was almost as skeletal as a Thestral. She knew that dog. She met it's wide, grey eyes, that showed so much sadness and guilt that it couldn't possibly be a dog.

"Uncle Padfoot?" she whispered, taking a shaky step forward.

There was a crack behind her, making her turn to see that her Uncle Moony had come to take her to Hermione's. When she turned back around the dog, or Padfoot, she didn't know was gone and she frowned.

"Bambi?" Her Uncle Moon asked, stepping forward to look at her with worried eyes.

"I thought I saw…never mind" Briar shook her head.

It was probably just her imagination, caused by how much she had been thinking of him. Or maybe shown her what she wanting to see…or didn't. Ugh, this was so confusing! Why couldn't life be as easy as flying?

She took her Uncle Moony's arm and was saw she saw the glint of silver eyes as they disappeared with a crack.


	31. The Grangers

Chapter Thirty

_The Grangers_

Her and Uncle Moony appeared in the Grangers' back yard with a loud crack. He hadn't wanted to appear on the street lest they be seen by muggles and didn't want to apparate into their house because 'it would be rude'. Briar wasn't sure why he didn't just do it, it would have been funny to see their shocked faces.

They walked towards their back door and Briar was just about to know what her Uncle Moony stopped her, a serious look on his face.

"Briar Rose, I want you to promise me that you won't tell Harry or anybody else about yours or Harry's connection to Sirius" he told her, looking her dead in the eyes.

Briar frowned. She really thought he was underestimating Harry's strength to deal with this, he had gone up again Voldemort and won three times and he's only thirteen.

"But-"

"Promise me. If he finds out he'll do something stupid like go after Sirius himself" said Moony.

Briar bit her lip, that didn't sound like something her twin would do.

At Azkaban they didn't need walls and water to keep prisoners in, not while they're trapped in their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Briar was pushing down the feeling of relied she felt at Padfoot having escaped that hell. The idea of her Uncle Padfoot suffering like that, it made her sick to her stomach.

She knew what he did, her uncle Moony had told her in as much detail as he felt she couldn't handle and she hated was Padfoot had done, hated it with a passion, but she still couldn't believe it. Her Uncle Padfoot was family and she loved him, just like Harry could even become the new dark lord and she would still love him.

Harry didn't remember what it was like before, not that she did that well, but she still remembered vaguely, she thought perhaps the killing curse had effected his early memories. Harry could hate this man, Sirius Black, because he didn't know him, but Briar did. He was the man with the haughty grin and infectious laugh, the huge dog that she would ride, the man who snuck her her first chocolate frog because her mum didn't want her eating chocolate and bought her and Harry their first toy brooms…

"I…Promise" she said finally and felt a small twinge of guilt at the secret she was about to keep from the person she shares everything with.

He uncle Moony clapped her on the shoulder and raised a hand to knock on the door. They only had to wait a moment before Hermione was at the door, grinning happily, her brown eyes alight.

"Briar, you're here!" Hermione exclaimed happily, pulling her into an excited hug, before turning to her Uncle Moony. "Hello again Mr Lupin."

"Hello Hermione" He responded kindly before turning back to Briar, he put his hands on her shoulders and crouched slightly so that he could look into her eyes. "Now remember what I said"

Briar nodded, if slightly reluctantly.

"Good." He straightened back up. "I'm going to see if I can find another job opening so I will leave you here" he told her, pulling her into a hug.

"Do you think you'll find one?"

"I hope so, Bambi" her uncle Moony said, kissing the top of her head and when he pulled back he gave her one last smile before disappearing with a loud crack.

Life at the Grangers was extremely weird, brilliant, but weird. Briar had never been in a muggle household so this was extremely odd for her. The pictures that rested on the mantle and the wall as you went upstairs. Hermione had caught her poking at them on the second day she was there and explained to her that muggle photos don't move, which Briar found extremely odd.

There were also the weird muggle gadgets. There was the televishun that Briar became rather addicted to, begging Hermione to just sit and watch it with her for days straight. Why wizards didn't have them was a mystery to her, it was brilliant!

Then there was the lights, instead of candles they had things called 'bulbs' and as soon as you flip a switch they come on or turn off, something to do with elekticity, Briar wasn't really sure.

Not to mention the thing called the 'microwave' when Hermione first made her dinner in it (her parents were at work) Briar had jumped a foot in the air when it beeped twenty minutes later showing that the small box had cooked the food.

There was also the fact that the whole house was neat and organized, they had different cupboards for different things and their book shelves were alphabetized, it was so different to her own house which always burst with the strange and unexpected.

Mrs Granger, who was a tall, thin woman with kind brown eyes and curly brown hair, always asked her about her studies. Briar found it extremely entertaining that she could talk about absolutely anything and the muggle woman believed her since she didn't know anything about the wizarding world, she only stopped when Hermione glared at her.

Mr Granger, with dark hair and equally dark eyes, on the other hand she found extremely fun to talk to, he seemed to have a sense of humour. She told him about the many pranks she had pulled with the twin and Lee and he listened to it all eagerly.

"Fascinating!" he would laugh as she told him about the colour changing Slytherins. "Amazing really that you pulled it off!"

At the end of the first week at the Grangers Mr and Mrs Granger handed Hermione some strange muggle money and Hermione told her they were going to take a plus to a place called the 'cinema'. She and Hermione walked down the street until Hermione told her to stop at 'bus stop'.

Briar stood, looking up and down the street before frowning when she didn't see the bus.

"Why isn't here? Do we have to press a switch like for the lights or something?" Briar asked in confusion.

"No. the bus we need comes every twenty minutes, we just have to wait for it" Hermione explained just a patiently as she had answered any other questions Briar had.

"Well, that's stupid" Briar scoffed. "The Night Bus appears in about a second"

"The Night Bus?"

"Yeah, it's this triple decker bus, it goes just about anywhere" Briar explained flippantly as she looked down the street expectantly, but was disappointed when she saw the bus still wasn't here.

It turns out that the arrival of the bus wasn't the only thing that went slow. Once they had boarded the bus and Hermione had given the bus driver some strange coins, the bus was off. It was so slow! It had taken about ten minutes to get to where they wanted to go, unlike the Night Bus that went so fast it could be half way across the country in a matter of moment.

The cinema however was brilliant! They went into a dark theatre with armfuls of muggle sweets and sat in front of a giant black film. It was basically a TV but ginormous. While their transport was terribly slow, the cinema had to be Briar's new favourite place.

The next day Briar was eating cereal, clad in a pair of jeans that she was pretty sure were Hermione's and a sweater that had been knitted by Mrs Weasley from last Christmas, while Hermione was studying the daily prophet opposite her.

"They still haven't caught him" she said, her brows furrowed.

"What?" Briar asked, but her voice was garbled from the cereal that was still in her mouth.

"Oh, honestly, you and Ron are disgusting when it comes to food" Hermione told her, her nose wrinkled in disgust as she placed the daily prophet down so that Briar could see it.

When she looked Briar's eyes winded and she swallowed her cereal, but it was suddenly tasteless as she couldn't stop focusing on the paper in front of her.

Her Uncle Padfoot's face was staring up at her again, all sunken eyes and waxy skin but undeniably him. She put her spoon down, suddenly not hungry, as she read the article.

_6__th__ August 1993_

_BLACK STILL AT LARGE_

_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today. _

"_We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."_

_Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Confederation of Wizards for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis. _

"_Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it – who'd believe him if he did?"_

_While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse. _

Briar glanced back to the picture of Uncle Padfoot, staring into his manic eyes, searching for any remnants of the man she used to know. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She only looked up from the paper when she noticed Hermione eyeing her worriedly, so she cleared her throat and ruffled her hair nervously.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Of course." Briar forced a smirk onto her face. "I'm always okay."

Briar was trying hard to act as normal as possible for the rest of the day and was sure she would be putting on the same act tomorrow. However, that changed when Hedwig arrived at the kitchen window, startling Mrs Granger so that she broke the plate she was washing, with a letter from Harry.

When she read it she was sure she would be laughing forever, despite the look of stern disapproval on Hermione's face. Apparently her and Harry's Aunt Marge had been visiting and was talking about their family in a…well an unflattering manner, and Harry had gotten so angry (he is their mother's son after all) that he had used accidental magic causing her to blow up and float away.

Briar received letters from the twins and Ron just a day later saying how Mr Weasley informed them of the incident and apparently Aurors had to be dispatched to retrieve her, set her back to normal and change the Muggles memories. Hilarious! And it serves them right.

On the last day of the holidays Hermione and Briar arranged to meet the Weasleys at Diagon Alley. Together they managed to convince Mr and Mrs Granger to let them stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the night seeing as that was wear Harry had been staying since he ran from the Durselys.

The first thing she did upon arriving was to get Tom to put her things in Harry's room, figuring she might as well stay with her brother rather than get another room, before she was immediately swept into a bone crushing hug between her two favourite red heads.

"Bambi, how spiffing to see you!" Fred exclaimed as he pulled from the hug, giving her a bow.

"I must agree there Fred, would you care to allow us to escort you around Diagon Alley?" George asked in a fake snooty voice.

Briar smirked slightly and gave a curtsey.

"Why thank you kind Sirs," Briar replied, linking arms with the twin and taking off doing a ridiculous skip down the cobbled street, laughing as they did, Merlin she had missed them.

The first stop she and the twins made was to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where Briar bought herself and the twin's ice creams and they competed to see who could get the wackiest flavour (Fred won, toffee and mint ice cream topped with fixing wizzbees and acid pops) before continuing down the street.

Briar could hear other Wizards and Witches talking, saying things like ("It's a lunascope, old boy – no more messing around with moon charts, see?") and ("Personally, I won't let any of the children out alone until he's back in Azkaban"), but Briar studiously ignored any of the muttering on Sirius Black.

Their next stop was Quality Quidditch supplies, however they had to squeeze in the shop due to the large crowd, but once they did they could do nothing but stare in awe along with everyone else. On a newly erected podium, was mounted the most magnificent broom she had ever seen in her life.

"Just come out – prototype-" a square-jawed wizard was telling his companion.

"It's the fastest broom in the world, isn't it, Dad?" squeaked a boy younger than Briar, who was swinging off his father's arm.

"Irish International Side's just put in an order for seven of these beauties!" The Proprietor of the shop told the crowd. "And they're favourites for the World Cup!"

"Lift me up so I can read the sign" Briar told the twin eagerly.

Fred quickly grabbed her waist and lifted her up and she tried to shake off the tingles that spread through her torso at the contact, not quite understanding what it was. Maybe she was becoming ticklish or something.

She shook her head and learn forward slightly, reaching out a hand so that George could steady her, so that she could read the sign over the heads of the crowd.

_THE FIREBOLT_

_This state-of-the-art racing broom spots a stream-lines, superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broom tail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles an hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable braking charm. Price on request. _

Briar didn't know how much it cost, but she knew she wanted it more than anything, however she was sure that her Uncle Moony would never let her by such a thing, after all she had a perfectly good Nimbus 2000 in her trunk. However, that didn't stop her from dreaming.

When Fred put her down she retold what she had read and the awed look on their faces increased ten-fold.

"I would sell my left arm for that thing" Fred breathed.

"Forget that, I would sell both of my arms and Ron's leg" George said, staring at the broom with wide eyes.

"I would sell_ both_ of you _and_ Ron" Briar put in and smirked at the twins affronted looks, reaching a hand up to ruffle her already messy hair.

Reluctantly, the three of them decided that they better leave the broom behind in order to get the things they actually needed to buy. They went to the Apothecary to replenish their store of potions ingredients (as well as many others that they deemed good for pranks or any new products, lately the twins had been working on puking pastels, but sadly it wasn't going that well) and they see as Briar school robes were now several inches too short in the arm and leg, they visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought new ones.

After stocking up on pranking products from the joke shops, they decided they needed to buy their school books, which would include Briar's new subjects, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures.

Briar got a surprise as she looked in at the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold-embossed spell-books the size of paving slabs, there was a large iron cage behind the glass that held about a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.

She now knew why Hagrid said it would come in useful, it was one of her school books for this year. Fred got closer to the cage but quickly pulled back when one of the books snapped at his fingers and shared a grin with George.

"Brilliant!" they said together and Briar just smirked in response.

Hearing their voices, the manager of Flourish and Blotts cam hurry towards them.

"Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"

"Yeah, we just need to of those please" George said for him and Fred.

The manager paled drastically and Briar was sure he was about to cry, but he seemed to control himself as he brushed past them. He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded toward the door of the Monster Books' cage.

He poked the stick through the bars and began beating the books away as he carefully opened the cage door and plunged his hand into the cage in order to quickly grab to of the books, winching when one of them latched on to part of his arm that wasn't covered by the gloves.

"I'm never stocking them again, never!" He exclaimed and he rushed over to the counter in order to wrap the books before they could cause any more damage. "It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of the invisible book of invisibility – cost a fortune and we never found them…"

"Why don't you just stupefy them?" Briar asked, raising a dark brow.

The manager shot her a dirty look.

"You don't think I tried? Of course that's the first thing I did, but it doesn't bloody work does it? Because that would make my job just too darn simple!" Briar shared an amused look with the twins. "…Well…is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes," said Briar, looking down at her book list. "I need Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, Ancient Runs Made Easy, Intermediate Transfiguration and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three"

Soon after the three of them were back outside the book shop, looking once again through the window at the vicious books fighting with each other.

"Bet you my book will beat yours in a fight" Briar smirked, sharing a mischievous look with the twins.

"You're on" they said together.

The three of them took off at a run towards the Leaky Cauldron, intent to prove that their Monster book of Monsters was the most vicious.

Briar was smiling smugly (despite the fact that the three of them had got a shouting at from Mrs Weasley when she had to repair the books) as her book had won the fight, being the least damaged. When they entered the main area of the Leaky Cauldron Briar rolled her eyes as Percy pompously greeted Harry, who was holding in a laugh, and sprinted towards her twin in order to pull him into a twin.

"Harry, I missed you! I can't believe you blew up our Aunt, Brilliant, inspired!" Briar exclaimed.

A grin instantly appeared on Harry's face when he looked at his twin, his emerald eyes lighting up. Harry too had grown a few inches so that they were still exactly the same size, however she was displeased to see that his glasses were once again held together with a lot of sticky tape.

"I missed you too, Bambi" Harry smiled.

"Obviously" Briar smirked, ruffling her hair, how she smiled sheepishly when MRs Weasley smacked her on the back of the head for her cockiness.

"Harry!" said Fred, brushing past Briar and bowing deeply, making her laugh. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy-"

"Marvellous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."

Percy scowled, while Briar shared and identical grin with her twin.

"That's enough, now," said Mrs Weasley.

"Mum!" said Fred as though he had only just spitted her and seizing her hand too. "How really corking to see you-"

Briar smothered a laugh at the twins antics. Honestly, Fred always tried to take everything as far as he could, she did the same, it was one of the reasons she really liked him, honestly she didn't think there was anyone she liked more than Fred (Harry and Uncle Moony didn't count). Her hazel eyes widened and she back tracked from her own thoughts…she meant liked as a friend, obviously.

"I said, that's enough," said Mrs Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" she pointed to the brand new silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second head boy in the family!" she said swelling in pride.

Briar and the twins rolled their eyes in unison.

"And last," Fred muttered to them under his breath.

"I don't doubt that," said Mrs Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects"

Harry had to pat Briar on the back to stop her from choking on the air as she resisted the urge to laugh. The very idea of the twin being made prefects was ridiciluos. Honestly if they had been made prefects she would have been ashamed to be seen with them. It would be like they had been neutered.

"What do we want to be prefects for?" said George and Briar knew he was revolted at the very idea. "it'd take all the fun out of life"

Ginny giggled and Briar ruffled the girls hair affectionately in greeting, not having seen her yet other than when she pushed past her in the hallway in the haste for her and the twins to battle their books.

"You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs Weasley.

"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily and Briar and Harry shared a look. "I'm going up to change for dinner…"

He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.

"We tried to lock him in a pyramid" he told Harry. "But mum spotted is."

"To my disappointment, honestly, I thought you were better than that" Briar told the twins in a faux disappointed town, and shot Harry a wink when the twins made noises of offence.

"Of course we're better!" Fred exclaimed.

"We'll show you, once we get back we'll pull a better prank that you do" George told her challengingly.

"You certainly will not!" Mrs Weasley snapped, "I don't want any more letters from the school because of your behaviour, I never had this trouble with your brothers"

Fred and George sighed.

"You're in trouble" Briar teased in a sing-song voice.

"And you Briar Rose!" Mrs Weasley shrieked, her brown eyes flashing and Briar winced, glaring at the twins when they began to snicker.

Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlour, and the seven Weasleys, Briar, Harry, and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate pudding.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr Weasley.

Everyone looked up at him.

"Why?" said Percy curiously.

"Haven't you heard?" Briar asked and turned to the twins with a fake gasp, "He hasn't heard!"

"It's because of you, Perce," explained George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them"

"-for Humongous Bighead," said Fred.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"Why are the Ministry providing cars, father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.

"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr Weasley, "-and as I work there, they're doing me a favour-"

Briar shared a sceptical look with Harry. Not only did Mr Weasley's ears go red, just as Ron's and the twins' did when they were embarrassed or under pressure, but Briar knew that Mr Weasley didn't have enough of a standing at the Ministry for such a favour.

"Good thing, too," said Mrs Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground…you are all packed, aren't you?"

"Ron hasn't put all his new thinks in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long-suffering voice and Briar rolled her eyes. "He's dumped them on my bed."

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs Weasley called down the table.

Ron scowled at Percy.

After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day. Briar needed to put away her knew things, so she left the twins to prank Percy on their own.

She and Harry were just locking their trunks when they heard angry voices through the wall. She turned and shared a confused look with Harry, knowing Ron and Percy were next door to them.

"I'm going to go see what's going on" Harry told her. "Coming?"

"To see the fascinating life of Percy and Ron Weasley?" Briar asked, rising a brow with a small smirk tugging at her lips.

Harry just rolled his eyes with an affectionate smile, before leaving to go next door to number twelve.

Briar looked at Onyx's empty cage and sighed, knowing she should have been back by now with Lee's reply and instead went to look in the mirror. She smiled at her reflection, her hazel eyes sparkling with the arrogance Snivillus always insisted she had, and ruffled her hair.

"No use making it work, dear" the mirror rasped and Briar glared.

"I'll have you know that my hair is beautiful" Briar scoffed, turning away from the mirror and smiled when Onyx came swooping through the window, brandishing a letter.

Briar stroked the bird's feathers, getting an affectionate nip on the finger in response, before she lay on her front on her bed and quickly opened the letter. She scanned the contents and frowned. Most of what Lee said was saying how he had met up with Alicia in Diagon Alley a few days ago and all the fun things they did.

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about her boyfriend sending her a letter about another girl, surely he should be spending time and talking to her? However, Briar was sure she is having more fun with the Weasley's than she would have with Lee, and she was pretty sure that wasn't how she was supposed to feel about her boyfriend.

Maybe it's just because they hadn't seen each other, she was sure it would go back to normal once back at Hogwarts, especially seeing how Fred seemed to have stopped his strange behaviour.

Briar looked up, putting the letter away, when Harry came rushing into the room and flopped back on the bed. She frowned when she saw his pale, panic-stricken expression, and sat up, eyeing him with concern.

"I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.

"Of course you're not" Briar said, her eyes wide in shock at his words.

"That's the spits, dears," said their mirror sleepily and Briar glared at it, she was really starting to dislike that thing.

"What are you even talking about Harry?" Briar asked, her brows furrowed.

Harry sat up and eyed her for a moment before he quickly began to explain what he had heard Mr and Mrs Weasley talking about. Apparently her Uncle Padfoot was after Harry for revenge for Voldemort, muttering 'he's at Hogwarts' in his sleep, Briar didn't want to believe it, but she wasn't sure what else that statement could be hinting too. Maybe Azkaban really sent him mad.

She and Harry didn't talk much after that, just lay back in their beds. Briar stared up at the dark ceiling and she was almost certain Harry was doing the exact same in the bed opposite, they were twins after all.

Everything Harry said was swimming around in Briar's mind. It simply didn't make any sense. Why would her Uncle Padfoot want to kill his god son? Not to mention that she knew he was smart, no matter how mad he may or may not be, and he should know killing Harry would accomplish nothing.

Briar frowned, before deciding to push it from her head, innocent or not, this situation was out of her hands, she hadn't seen her uncle Padfoot and surely he would have left England since the Aurors and Dementors were after him.

She closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, but I have my GCSE's now and I have been so busy and tired. The chapters a bit of a bore, but we haven't got to the good stuff yet. Fred has now come to terms with his crush on Briar and will be acting a bit more normal around her, but what about Lee? She's certainly not as close to him now, it seems to be the beginning of the end for them ;) and I'm not going to say what happens but Alicia and Hermione have something to do with it. **

**Anyway, please REVIEW!**


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